


Taking It Back

by stephensmat



Category: Castle, Tom Clancy's The Division
Genre: Alexis Recruited, End of the World, Gen, Guess Who The Agents Are, Pre-Canon, Survival, Training, outbreak
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2017-09-12
Updated: 2017-11-22
Packaged: 2018-12-27 07:32:36
Rating: Teen And Up Audiences
Warnings: Major Character Death
Chapters: 7
Words: 58,434
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/12076440
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/stephensmat/pseuds/stephensmat
Summary: The Team from the 12th has faced spies and terror attacks before, but nobody's heard of The Division. Nobody had any idea how close to home they were, and Alexis certainly never thought she'd be recruited.But then three bodies arrive at the 12th after a police chase, and they weren't killed by any crash... Within 24 hours, there's no turning back.(A Division/Castle Crossover)





	1. The End of the World

**Author's Note:**

> AN: For those wondering about the continuity, Team Caskett is together, publicly. This is after the wedding, and I'm ignoring the whole 'pretending they broke up to protect each other' storyline. Nothing against it, but for this story, it works better that way. Plus, it's a Division crossover, so continuity with future episodes means nothing.
> 
> The Division Game opens two weeks after the outbreak. This story will end at about the point where gameplay starts. Enjoy!

Beckett went from the Break Room to her office, with her fresh coffee held close protectively. Her husband was over at the Murder Board, but he wasn't working on a case. "You're starting a betting pool over Santa?"

"Tis the holiday season, Captain." Castle said brightly. "The sugarplums are dancing and the eggnog is flowing and all those family members are trying to decide if they want to be crammed into their happy little homes with their loved ones again so soon after Thanksgiving. Inevitably, there will be homicide! And as a symbol of peace and love and happy children, Santa Claus is sure to be the lightning rod of all that barely contained violence!"

Ramirez, already writing her picks on the whiteboard, agreed. "Last year we arrested fourteen Santa's. Drunk and Disorderly, aggravated assault, a few fake charity bins ripping off donations..."

"This year, we're organized." Castle summed up. "Why traumatize children by dragging St Nick away in cuffs if we can't put money on it?"

"That's sick." Captain Beckett declared. "But put me down for ten on 'grand theft auto'."

Ramirez dutifully wrote it down as Beckett went into her office.

Castle followed her. "Remember that time we went out to a crime scene and there was a Santa Claus that had dropped out of thin air in the middle of the night? I hear that kid is still in therapy"

"You hear?" Beckett repeated. "You kept tabs on the kid?"

"You interviewed the parents, I interviewed the kid." Castle said with dignity. "Took all of my skill as a storyteller to make her smile again."

Beckett found herself smiling it him warmly, just from that one alone.

"And that's when the ninja's attacked!" Castle added.

Beckett rolled her eyes at him. "They did  _not_. Jeez, Ninja's attacked you  _one_   _time_ , and you start putting them in every story you ever tell. Doesn't real life entertain you enough?"

"Of course it does." Castle said easily. "But the thing is, they're ninja. For all we know there are a dozen of them in this precinct right now. You never see them until they want to be seen. For all we know there could have been Japanese Warrior Clans involved in every case we've ever worked together and we never knew it."

"You think so?" Beckett mocked. "Then consider this: What if every country has ninja, and we only know about the Japanese ones because they suck at hiding?"

Castle stared at her a moment, and promptly reached for one of his notepads. "Now there's a thought that's going in a book!"

Beckett smirked as her office phone started ringing, and she answered it. "Beckett."

"Sweetie? It's me..." A choked voice said quietly. "It's um... it's Lanie. I need you to do something for me."

Something in her voice made Kate sit up straight. Over at the couch, Castle noticed her reaction and did the same. "Lanie?" Beckett said. "Where are you?"

"I'm downstairs. I've just locked the door."

"Why? And what's that echoing sound on the call?"

"I'm about seal myself in one of the freezers. I'll have about ten minutes of air. I need you to go Level One, and have the entire Morgue sterilized, and then contained, understand?"

Beckett was on her feet instantly. "I will. Lanie, are you... contaminated?"

"I think so." Her best friend started to cry. "The freezer is the best way I know of keeping someone from-from getting it from me, but don't let anyone in without bio-hazard gear on. Call when they're ready to come in, and I'll seal myself off. Leave a hazard suit for me. Tell them... tell them it looks like Smallpox."

Beckett felt panic rising in her chest. "Lemme put you on hold."

* * *

Esposito was ordering a hotdog, when his phone rang. "Esposito."

"Javi, it's Beckett." His captain called over the radio. "We have a situation here. Where are you?"

"On my way back to the Precinct." he said. "Turns out that tip we got-"

"Don't come." She told him. "We're quarantined."

Esposito froze. "What? Why?"

"Lanie was autopsying a few bodies that came in this morning. A black and white pulled over a car that was driving erratically, and it turned out to have two Drivers for the Carlucci family in the back seat, both of them covered in blood. The chase went on for a few minutes, when the perps overturned their vehicle... But here's the thing. According to Lainie, all three perps in the car died  _before_  the car flipped. No gunfire was exchanged, they just... dropped, mid-car chase."

"So she threw up a quarantine around her morgue?"

"Around the Precinct..." Beckett took a breath. "Javi, she's completely freaked. Lanie is good enough that she doesn't jump at shadows, but she's terrified."

Esposito's face turned to stone. "Give me an order, Captain."

"In about two minutes, I'm going to announce it over the Squawk box. Then, everyone in the city will know. I've called the CDC; they're sending a team. I'm talking to other departments so that we can find an alternate place to put any perps until we can get the quarantine lifted, and organizing patrols for everyone who's not currently here. But I have a special mission for you. Those guys worked for the Carlucci's. Castle still has a marker from Dino Scarpella. I need you to find him, and put a phone in his hand. Castle is going to get him to talk. If one of the Organized crime syndicates in this city is also going to be Ground Zero for something REALLY bad..."

"I'm already moving." Esposito threw his hot dog away, uneaten. The vendor was still waving dollar bills after him, trying to give the cop his change. But he already had three more people in line.

* * *

"Grandma?" Alexis called into the phone. "Are you okay?"

"Darling?" Her grandmother answered, and she didn't sound so well. "Alexis, where are you?"

"I'm... At home. At Dad's. I was calling about lunch..."

"Good. Stay there." Martha croaked. "I'm going to have to cancel on lunch... There's one hell of a flu going around. Practically everyone in my building has it."

Alexis suddenly felt scared. "Grandma, what about you?"

"I'm a little under the weather, myself." Martha allowed.

"Listen, dad called, and told me not to leave the loft." Alexis wavered. "I think he'd make an exception if you needed help... or maybe you can come h-"

"No, that's good." Martha interrupted. "Stay where you are. And... don't go outside." She coughed again, harder. "What about you? Are you... healthy?"

"Not even a sore throat." Alexis reported.

"Good." Martha hacked.

"Grandma? What aren't you telling me?" Alexis pressed.

"Nothing, sweetie. Keep warm, kay?"

Alexis gripped the phone. "Gramma, you just lied to me. You didn't even lie to me about Santa Claus; no matter what Dad threatened you with. Tell me the truth."

Martha was silent a while. "There's blood on my tissues."

Alexis let out a sob. "The radio is full of stories about gridlock and crowded hospitals. The TV is calling it a bad flu season. What if they've all got it? What about dad? He's still out there!"

* * *

The streets were getting hard to navigate, but eventually, Esposito made it to the last known address of Dino Scarpella. On the way, his phone had started ringing. "Esposito."

"Javi?"

Esposito nearly slammed on the breaks. "Lanie!"

"I... I just wanted to hear your voice, baby." Lanie said quietly. "Are you okay?"

"I'm not the one under quarantine."

"I really can't express to you how scary it is to see men in hazard outfits wrapping up your office in saran wrap." She whispered into the phone. "Now, let me do this first, before I lose it: Are you wearing gloves?"

"It's December. Everyone is."

"That's good, but I'd rather you wear surgical gloves. That huge Marine Survival Bag you have in your car? I assume it includes a Medkit?"

"Gloves and surgical masks." Esposito nodded.

"That may not cut it. Go home. Get your gas mask."

Esposito said nothing to that, but he had actually kept a second gas mask in the car . "This isn't just procedure then."

Lanie sniffed. "I did the tests again. Nothing else to do down here. It's not a false positive. It's Smallpox."

"How is that possible?!"

"I don't know, but it's in their clothes, in their wallets... I hear Beckett ordered them to torch the car in the impound... Javi, I did the blood work. I'm infected too."

Esposito choked on his tongue. "Are you sure?"

"Yup." Lanie sniffed, fighting down emotion. "Okay, um... I hope we'll talk again, before this is over. But I just wanted to hear your voice, and I wanted to make sure you hadn't got it. You'll put that mask on."

"I will."

"And you'll keep it on."

"I will."

"And you'll think good thoughts for me?"

"They're the only kind I have, when it comes to you." Javier wiped tears on his collar. He didn't dare touch his face right then. "I love you, Lanie. I know I broke it off, and the reasons still seem like they make sense to me, but I don't know why I didn't have every second I could with you."

He could hear her smiling, even through her tears. "Javi, I feel the same way. I wish... I wish I could touch you right now. I never realized how much I still wanted to have my arms around you until I put the damn bio-suit on..."

Javier parked his car in as secluded a spot as he could find. "I feel the same way, beautiful."

* * *

Alone in the morgue, Lanie checked her pulse again. "Javi, just so you know... I didn't call anyone else. I called Kate to lock it down, and I called you. I haven't even spoken to my parents yet. I don't dare, because whatever kate has to do to fix this, I can't put the word out. But if the worst happens, I want you to talk to them, okay? When it's safe. Tell my mom I did my best."

"I will." Javier promised.

Silence. Lanie rolled her head back, squeezing her eyes shut. "I want to keep talking, until I can't any more... But I don't want you to hear that. I'm-" She coughed. "I'm checking my vitals every half hour, and it's not looking like a good day for me. I just... I had to talk to you. Of all the things on my bucketlist, I think this was the one that mattered most."

"Don't you give up yet. Not ever."

"Javi, I'm vacuum sealed into a room, alone with my frozen stiffs. I'm trying not to be pessimistic, but Medicine is a win or lose business, even for an M.E." Lanie sniffed, looking from the sealed doorway to the rows of freezers. "And I can already feel the symptoms creeping up on me." She lowered her voice to a whisper. "Javi... If I've got it, I won't last the week. And frankly... I'd be glad for it."

"What?"

She sniffed. "Javi, I checked the incubation rate. The whole country could have it right now. If it does... I'd be glad not to see it."

Javier couldn't think of anything to say. "I love you, Lanie."

"Love you." She said back with a barely there smile. "Say it again?"

"I love you."

She smiled a bit more. "You remember the time you met my parents?"

"Oh. Yes." He answered, and she could hear the rueful smile.

"When dad hugged you and said 'call me dad' I thought you were going to crack and run screaming from the room." Lanie said with a soft smile. "But you did it, and just... made it all be fine."

"Ryan came to my rescue as I recall." He smiled softly.

"That night, when you said that you wanted what they had, what Kate and Castle have... But you knew you wouldn't have that with me..." She sniffed. "I just want you to know, I meant what I said. You deserve a happily ever after, babe." She was saying goodbye, and they both knew it.

"One day." He promised. "But just so you know, she better be something pretty amazing after you. I may not have been your Happily Ever After, but you were the best thing that ever happened to me in years and years." He tried to smile through the phone. "And if memory serves, you spent the rest of that evening with your hand glued to my ass."

"Well sure, I may not be your eternal bride, but Waste-Not Want-Not."

They both chuckled, and just for a split second, the world was far away. After a moment, there was a knock on her door. Figures outside in bio-suits. She went over to the one they left for her, and started changing. "Javi, they're transferring me to an ICU. They want to get a handle on the symptoms."

"Good. They can help."

"I know Doctor Kandell. She's good." Lanie was putting a brave face on it, and they both knew it. "Tell me one more time." She said gently.

"I love you." Javier promised.

"Love you too."

* * *

The line disconnected. Javier looked at his phone for a moment... before he put it away, and got out of the car, heading up the door of Dino Scarpella.

_Don't think. Don't feel. Just walk. Don't think. Don't feel. Just walk._

There was no answer, but the door was unlocked, and Javier pulled the gas mask from his car close by.

"Mister-" Esposito stopped talking and snap-drew his sidearm. "Drop the weapon! Drop it now!"

The man Esposito had been sent to find was clearly dying. Scarpella was rocking back and forth, in an old wooden rocking chair, and he had a double-barrel shotgun across his knees, pointed squarely at Esposito.

"Believe it or not, Policeman..." The older man groaned wretchedly, as bloody tears leaked from his eyes. "...I'm helping you right now. Step two feet closer, and my scattergun will be far kinder to you. Though, one wonders if it matters  _how_  a man dies."

"I'm Detective Esposito, from the 12th Precinct." Javier's gun didn't so much as waver, but he pulled the mask up over his face with one hand. "I've been instructed to put you in touch with Richard Castle."

"Rick? What does he want?"

"I can put my phone in your hand and you can ask him."

"Fine. But you better put it on speaker, and step well back. The room is unhealthy right now..."

Esposito placed the call.

* * *

"I spoke to Lanie." Kate said softly. "She's not optimistic."

Castle looked heartsick. "You guys... talked?"

"Said all the things we needed to say." Kate rubbed her eyes. "Castle, five of my people called in sick today. Ryan, I haven't heard at all."

Castle nodded. "I tried calling him. Couldn't get through."

They both jumped as Castle's phone rang. "It's Espo."

"Put it on speaker." Kate turned her chair to face the phone as he put it on the desk.

"Guys, it's me." Esposito said right off. "I found Dino. And he looks pretty bad. Whatever it is, he's got it."

"Espo, stay the hell away from him."

"That won't be hard, given that he's promised to shoot me if I come any closer. Rick, he says to put the phone on speaker."

"Do it."

* * *

Esposito did so.

"Rick!" Dino called. "I heard your wife made Captain. I'll just assume my invitation to the wedding was lost in the mail."

"Don't feel too raw about it. So was mine." Esposito put in.

"Mister Scarpella, I'm afraid I have to tell you that you lost three of your men this morning." Beckett began. "Their names are-"

"I know their names." Dino wheezed. "They took part in an armored car holdup two weeks ago."

"You understand you're talking to two police officers, right?"

"Who cares any more?" Dino wheezed. "The Sales Season had just begun, and there was plenty of money moving back and forth. My business gets its funding from plenty of places, but at this time of year, people do less gambling, and more shopping; spend less on whores and more on their families. Call it the Christmas spirit. I had... overheads. So when Vincio comes to me and says he knows the route for armored truck... I tell him to go for it. He took two friends, and... They are all leaking their guts into your morgue, right now; I imagine."

"So they hit the car, and discovered that instead of sacks of money, it was full of... What?" Castle asked, running out the plot in his head. "Vials? Lab equipment? Test tubes?"

"Money. Just bags and bags of money, exactly how it was meant to be. I tell my boys to keep it hidden, and stand guard, until the heat dies down, and the law assumes it's left the country already. They do so... And then they start to get sick." As if to punctuate the point, Dino broke down hacking and spluttering again.

"Speaking of, Dino... We can get you an ambulance? NYPD has pull with hospitals. We can get you some Intensive Care Treatment..."

"No. They can't help me. My sainted mother, bless her heart, she lost all her brothers to the Pox. I know what I got, and I'm a dead man. It ain't right, surviving a lifetime of bullets and knives, to fall to a microbe... In fact, I have spent all morning trying to gather enough strength to lift this damn shotgun into my mouth."

Silence from the phone.

"Dino..."

"Protect your wife and your kid, Rick. There ain't nothing more important." Dino coughed. "Rick, that favor I owe you, my people know about it... You can-can-can still ask... ohh."

"Dino, I really never expected to-"

"I know, but I can be generous now. I'm negotiating for the ultimate deal, after all." Dino coughed, raising his eyes to heaven. "Beautiful Captain, you should tell your man to finish his questions and get well away from me now."

"Well, by now we've figured out what this virus does, and obviously, we have to contain it. My Precinct took in the bodies of your men. I imagine you got it from them too. But where-"

"It's in the money." Dino coughed.

"The money?" Castle said over the speaker. "Javi, did he say 'it's in the money'?"

"He did." Javier confirmed.

"My guy was healthy as a horse." The sick man explained. "He lay low for a week before the heist, and then he lay low for two weeks after. He spoke to nobody. The place we had him hidden was a converted shipping container, in a blind spot on the rooftop of an abandoned factory. Depressed areas, you know. Nobody much went there. My guys set it up to be comfortable enough, and completely off grid. He drank from rainwater tanks and melted snow, he ate long life food that was stocked there. He had no human contact with anything but the piles of money he rolled around in until he came and delivered it to us. When he grew ill, he mentioned that some of the bills felt strange. Oily, but just for a moment. He suspected that they were new bills, or marked in some way, which is why we told him to stay away from us for a few weeks." He rasped a laugh. "We were worried that someone like  _you_  had marked the bills, Captain."

"Mister Scarpella..." Beckett struggled to say it. "If the money they stole never saw anyone else... Then  _other_  money must have been contaminated too."

"The truck was on it's way to the bank. It had made a run around several of the large department stores. That money changed a dozen hands before it got anywhere near us." Dino coughed. "And now, I will... ask you to leave me to my Maker, Captain."

"I understand."

"Detective, if that pop-gun of yours happened to go off, unexpectedly... I'd be grateful to you..." Dino wheezed.

Esposito froze, willing to do it, but knowing he shouldn't... when Dino finally lost his strength and passed out.

* * *

Esposito brought the phone outside. "Guys, there are certain procedures they teach you to avoid nasties like this." He said through the gas mask. "I'm going to keep you on speaker and follow some of them. Fortunately, I have a change of clothes in the car."

"Dino said that his people hit the truck two weeks ago. If that's how long it takes to show symptoms... How fast does a dollar bill turn over in this city? Or a fiver. Or a ten?" Beckett demanded. "We've all probably handled dozens of them. If the thing is contagious during those two weeks..."

"Two weeks..." Castle turned the magic words over in his head. "The Black Friday sales."

"My god, so much money changes hands that way... And that was two  _weeks_  ago! If it's transmissible, human-to-human..."

"We don't know that yet." Esposito said, putting his clothes into a plastic bag, careful not to let any of it touch his bare skin. "And if it is, we may be looking at something a hell of a lot worse than a quarantine, but-"

There was a scuffling sound, and Castle took the phone. "Javi, listen to me. I can't reach Alexis. Last I heard from her, she was closer to my place than the office. I told her to go to my place, and stay there. That's when the landlines overloaded."

"Phones have been up and down all over the city." Beckett's voice put in.

"If you lose contact with us, tell Alexis I said: 'Clayton Forrester'. She knows what that means."

"Clayton Forrester?" Javier repeated. "I hope she does, because I won't be able to explain it to her." He looked around the street. Holiday Shopping Season in New York City. There were millions of people walking along, tossing coins into charity baskets, carrying bags from department stores, holding hands with their kids, buying food from vendors... Esposito had never realized how many of them were handling cash until he was looking for it. "Captain?"

"I'm here."

"Beckett... These people... God, all these people..."

* * *

"I know." She said, and she sounded miserable about it. She felt Castle's hand at her shoulder and she clung it it tightly, even without looking. "Listen, while the phones are up, I'm going to call the Governor's Office, and One Police Plaza. We don't need the police force for this, we need the National Guard. Do you have Biohazard gear?"

"Yeah, full gear at home, backup in the car. I'm already wearing it."

"Get your full gear from home, suit up, and take a sample of that money over to One PP. I'll have Lanie's test results assembled into something that makes sense, and leave it by the vehicle bay entrance. Take that too. We've got to sell a bunch of politicians on quarantining huge chunks of the city; and they're going to say no, just out of hand. When I go over their heads with the CDC and the State Department, I have to be able to back it up." She took a breath. "Javi, they took Lanie to the CDC in a hazard suit. She left five minutes ago."

Esposito gave no answer. The phone had dropped out, and she wasn't sure if he'd heard her.

* * *

Things were getting thick real fast. Javier couldn't find a clear street from the 12th to One PP to save his life, and had to go part of the way on foot. There were dozens of people sitting on the curb, looking exhausted, looking nauseous... He'd seen people laying against walls, clutching at their phones, hitting buttons over and over. Calling relatives, calling hospitals...

Once he was walking, he'd figured out why there was such gridlock. A lot of people weren't waiting for an ambulance. A lot of people were driving, and hadn't made it, fading out behind the wheel and crashing.

It was making Javier heartsick. There were people gathering around the infected, trying to help, breathing in their own sickness, slain by human instinct to help each other.

But he'd made his delivery. He was wearing a gas mask, and nobody had called him on it. New York was one of the more paranoid places these days, but nobody had been surprised about him wearing a mask. There had been no announcement, no public statement... Which meant it was happening all at once; and too fast for people to compete with.

Javier headed back to his car, and walked right past it. He went to the nearest cell tower he could find, which was mounted on top of an office building. Javier let himself in the back way, and went up the stairs. Thirty stories in a gas mask and rubber gloves, but he didn't dare take the elevator.

When he found the dish, he glanced around to see if anyone was looking, and promptly kicked open lock on the control panel. Quickly and skillfully, he unsnapped a multi-tool from his belt and made a few quick, surgical changes to the satellite dish, wiring power into the receiver. Another moment, and he pulled out his phone, opening an app that didn't appear on any of the menus. It took three passwords and a fingerprint scan for the app to activate, and it found the signal from the satellite dish quickly.

The screen went blank for a moment, and then put up a keyboard, and a single word. Javier typed his responses quickly.

* * *

REPORT.

**SHD Agent - Level Nine. Javier Esposito.**

VERIFY.

**ZZ-Alpha-Lanie-Three-Whiskey-Tango.**

PASSWORD ACCEPTED. ISAC ONLINE.

**Clear and Present Danger detected. Code Dark Winter. Any chance of Containment is likely breached already. CDC contacted by local authorities. Request immediate activation of all Units in area.**

REPORT RECEIVED. GO DARK UNTIL ACTIVATION.

* * *

Javier disconnected his equipment and made his way back to street level like nothing happened.

In the sky, there were suddenly a dozen more helicopters. Large ones. They weren't traffic choppers, or even the press. Word was starting to get out.

Esposito made it back to his car. The mask was stuffy and uncomfortable, and he wanted nothing more than to take it off. The gloves were making his hands sweat, even in the winter snow; but he didn't dare take them off either.

His phone rang, and he dove for it. He hadn't been able to reach any of his friends for a while. When he saw the caller ID, he moved even faster.

"Javi?" A voice coughed.

"Ryan?" Javier was suddenly frozen. Not by the voice, but by the cough.

"Javi... Um, I should have called in sick, but I couldn't reach anyone. I'm at the hospital. There's something wrong with Jenny."

Esposito suddenly wondered if he was infected too, as it took all his strength not to puke right then. "Sarah Grace?"

"Her too. The Doctor's don't know if they'll be able to save... They don't know what's wrong with either of them, Javi! They can't... They don't know what's wrong with her!"

He sounded so helpless, and Javier almost wanted to let him stay ignorant of what was going on. "I think I know."

His best friend heard the tone. "Javi, you tell me right now. What's wrong with my wife and kid?!"

Javier looked around. Nobody in sight. He squeezed his eyes shut. "Same thing that's wrong with you."

They both forced the emotion away. In a quick, almost monotone way, they briefed each other on what was happening. It was like they were comparing notes on a police case.

"If it's coming from the money... then it's not an accident." Ryan said finally.

"No." Javier agreed grimly. "If the doctors at the hospital can't identify it, then it's probably not even a natural bug."

"Javi, the hospital is packed. Way more than it should be. They think it's a bad flu season."

"The streets are clogged too." Javier agreed. "I couldn't even make it from the 12th to One PP without hopping a fire escape. The announcement will come any minute now, and when that happens..."

"So... It's goodnight, nurse." Ryan said softly. A moment later, he forced a cheerful tone. "Hey, it won't be so bad. I'm a cop, in the middle of a MidTown Hospital. If anyone is going to make it through, it's going to be us."

He didn't believe it, and Javier didn't either. "Right. Of course you are. I mean, come on; it's you and Jenny. It's going to take something a lot worse than this to split you guys up."

"I know, right?" Kevin forced a smile. "But, uh... just in case you get too busy to call me back, which we both know you will be, since you can't tie your shoes without me, I should probably tell you..." He struggled to find the words. "In case I don't see you..."

"Likewise." Javier said sincerely. "In case I don't see you."

The line dropped out.

Javier squeezed the phone so tight he heard it creak, and hit redial.

"All Circuits are currently busy." The automated voice told him. "Your call cannot be co-"

Javier switched his phone off, and plugged it into the dashboard. He didn't know what would happen next, but he wanted his phone charged.

Kevin had sounded so... defeated.

Javier Esposito was still for a split second, and then he slammed his fist against the dashboard so hard it bent inward. And then he did it again, and again, and let out a frustrated howl.

* * *

After 9/11, local Law Enforcement was issued more secure communications equipment, in the event that the city phone circuits were overloaded. Kate received a call, for the Captain only, and took it in private.

Castle tried to call his daughter, and got an error message each time. He was about to try again, when the phone rang in his hand, and he answered it. "Hello?"

"I've piggybacked this call onto Beckett's secure line. It will last only as long as she stays on the phone." A gravel voice said quickly. It was Jackson Hunt.

Castle quickly glanced around, and took the call into as private a corner as he could find. "Jackson! Do you know what's going on?"

"The news is reporting it as a flu outbreak. That's a lie. I got a look at Beckett's report to the CDC, and she's pretty close with her recommendations. They may even have worked, if she'd gotten them in place two weeks ago."

"Then we were right." Castle breathed. "This isn't nature, this is an attack."

"They won't announce that for another few days." The older spy told him. "Right now, there are seven operations going on, trying to capture or terminate those responsible. One way or another, those ops will be completed in the next seventy two hours. That's when they'll announce what it really is. The problem at this point is containment. For two weeks, this has been spreading, invisibly. We'll be lucky if it hasn't covered the globe by now. That's my job. Your job, is to wait it out."

"That's not going to be a popular position around here." Castle said lightly. "Even with the Quarantine, half the precinct is already deployed outside. My wife can run a war with a walkie talkie and a map."

"In another three days, we'll see how many of her army are infected." His father countered. "The problem, Richard; is not who's sick and who's healthy. It's who's going to snap first, and break ranks. Morale is such a deadly thing. Now, I have  _some_  good news. Alexis is safe. She is not infected."

"How do you know that?"

"I know."

Castle's ears pricked up. "Did you do something? Is there a cure after all? A vaccine?"

"That doesn't matter at this point. Just know that Alexis survived the First Wave. Whether or not she survives what comes next is mostly up to her."

"What can I do?"

"A few years ago, I looked at your emergency supplies, and left you a list of suggestions. Did you find what I told you to find?"

"Yessir."

"Does Alexis know to stay indoors and hold position?"

"Yessir."

"Good. You taught her well." Jackson let out a sigh. "Richard, there's one more thing I can suggest, but you can't ask me for details; and I know you hate that."

"Will it keep Alexis safe?"

"There is no safe right now, but it'll improve her odds."

"Then I'll do it."

"Text Detective Esposito and P.I. Hayley Shipton. Don't call. Text. Tell them to get to Alexis, and then go Dark. You'll need to add this code: Sierra-Grid-Epsilon-Nine. That will be the last you hear from them."

"Why them?"

"What did I just say about details?" His father barked. "Now, grab a pen. I'm going to tell you what I can about the other thing. You're not cleared to know it, but it's going to be made public knowledge in a day or two."

Castle flipped open his notebook. "Tell me everything."

* * *

Javier Esposito was on his way home, when he received a text message. Phone calls weren't working. Text messaging was becoming the more reliable way to send and receive messages. Javi's phone found a connection once every half hour or so, and information came scrolling in.

When he got to the one from Castle's number, he froze.  _How the hell did Castle get that code?!_

His orders were to go dark until activated. It rubbed him the wrong way, leaving the 12th behind, but that was his job.

But now Castle had a clearance code. How he got it, who the hell would know? _If it even came from Castle..._

Javier put his phone away and turned on his heel, heading back the way he came. He had orders to go dark. He could do that just as easily while watching over Alexis as he could alone.

* * *

Beckett looked through the page in his notebook. "Your father was the source for all this?" She said dubiously. "And you believe him?"

"He hasn't steered me wrong yet."

"He also got your daughter kidnapped once."

"And he was the reason I got her out again." Castle shot back. "Look, he may be unreliable, but that doesn't make him wrong. It's getting ugly outside, Kate. And I don't mean the street, I mean outside  _this office_."

This was true. The bullpen was getting incredibly tense. People were glaring at each other, snapping at each other...

"I've been looking at some of the numbers he sent me." Castle said slowly. "There are seven vaccines for smallpox in the USA. If a hundred people in New York get it, you need a hundred million immune people around them to stop the spread. And there are only seven known doses of the vaccine in the country."

"I'll go you one better than that." Beckett said grimly. "It takes an average of six weeks for a pharmacy to restock the shelves with anti-biotics, and there's an average of thirty hospital beds for every thousand people in the hospital's area." She waved over at the filing cabinet. "The NYPD has procedures for what to do if it hits. They all involve being outside a quarantine. I'm afraid the 12th is going to be late to this particular party." She licked her lips. "Rick, you might want-"

"I already called Alexis, and told her to go to my place and lock the doors. I can't get mother on the phone." Castle said grimly. "What do we do in the meantime?"

* * *

"People, may I have your attention." Beckett called. Thirty police officers, and more than a few civilians gathered around. "This is rumor control. Yes, it looks like there's been a Bio-Attack. Doctor Parish was infected while examining the bodies, and followed containment procedures. It's not a false alarm."

A loud murmur ran through everyone. The unlucky civilians that had been sealed in with them started shouting questions.

"PEOPLE!" She shouted. "I'm going to tell you everything I know. Full disclosure."

Everyone settled enough to listen.

"We know that the disease is transferable through touch, and infected items. So, nobody touch your face or eyes, we're issuing gloves and surgical masks. Those of you with badges, we have some protective gear issued for exactly this reason. Not everyone is here, so the spares will be issued fairly. As Captain, I'm also ordering that the seized property lockers be searched for anything useful, such as a change of unaffected clothing. Everyone will remove their personal items, and keep them sealed in our evidence bags until we can test it; you'll have a change of clothes provided."

"How long will the testing take?"

"A few hours."

"HOURS?!" A woman shouted. "I have to get home! I can't be here for hours! I have kids in school!"

Beckett blew right past that. They were going to be waiting for  _days_. But they weren't ready for that one yet. "Anything that's contaminated has to be burned. We've got an incinerator in the basement... And you're all going to start screaming in a moment, but there's one thing that we know was deliberately contaminated. And that's paper money. It all has to go, right now."

That little revelation set off a roar. And not just from the civilians and the perps.

"HEY!" Beckett roared, loud enough that everyone went silent for a split second, before they started roaring again.

Castle came over to stand next to his wife, and produced a megaphone. Beckett took it and got control of the room back.

"Everyone who follows this instruction will be reimbursed by the city. As Captain, it's within my power to force you to do this, but I'd rather we all behave like adults. We've got intel that says the money was deliberately poisoned, as part of a terror campaign. Now, we've all been handling said money, myself included, but the best bet is that time, and many hands would dilute the poison at some point. As long as there's a one in a thousand chance that we can spare anyone from infection, we'll do it." She cleared her throat. "As Captain, I also have the authority to reimburse you for any personal items lost due to official police action. You'll all get your money back, plus an extra twenty percent for being such good,  _co-operative_  citizens, during this time of crisis."

* * *

_"...Emergency services are already maxed out. We're getting reports of wait times of up to three hours for ambulances, and patients being treated in hallways at all major hospitals. Supplies of Antibiotics are already running out, and due to congestion on the roads, resupply is running far behind schedule. Let's go now to our Medical Expert, Doctor Mary Reddy. Doctor Reddy, what's your take on the current situation?"_

_"Dave, the sad fact is that the hospital system has been screwed up for years. Wait times on operations have always been abysmal, and with precious little margin for error. Something like this was bound to happen eventually."_

_"Well, a city wide health crisis is hardly the time to talk about politics and money. What I'm asking is, what can be done?"_

_"Well, several people who have already gotten their flu shots are actually inviting some of the sick into their homes for care. It's a wonderful example to follow. That said, we have to be careful about making sure we don't spread the flu around any faster, so carefully washing your hands, covering your mouth, and being aware of the following symptoms-"_

_"A full list of which can be found on our website. But Doctor, we're receiving some reports of people on social media, giving updates of their conditions. Some of these symptoms don't appear on our list. In fact-"_

_"Oh, well if the Internet says something is so, then it must be."_

_"You don't believe the reports?"_

_"Well you said it yourself, none of these those people are describing flu symptoms."_

_"Which was rather my question. What if it isn't just the flu?"_

_"Well... what else could it be?"_

* * *

"It was ballsy, telling them about the attack." Castle observed. "You could have just told them that it was routine procedure."

"Nobody would have bought that once I set all their money on fire." Beckett retorted. "If they all get on twitter to complain... Well, the news is already reporting people dying. They don't know the 'S' word, so we can afford to be honest."

"That woman who was talking about her kids? She won't appreciate honesty." Castle reminded her. "She'll crack first. I've written this story. A dozen people who can't get out, and they're all spooked? Every Agatha Christie story begins this way. It's a matter of time until one of them snaps."

* * *

Castle's words soon proved prophetic. The 12th stayed calm for almost three hours before someone tried to force their way through the doors. The woman with kids in school had come to report a missing purse and was now trapped. The phones were off the air and she was starting to panic, unable to reach her husband, or her neighbors, or anyone who could pick up her pre-teen children.

"The door is right  _there_!" Her voice had rung out. "Look, I'm  **not**  sick, and I'm  **not**  a damn criminal, and you have to LET ME OUT!"

The police did their jobs, and Beckett had made a show of locking the doors shut. The woman refused to calm down and started getting louder and more hostile. They kept her in the interrogation room.

She wasn't the only member of the general public who had been unlucky. A few food deliveries, some eyewitnesses giving testimony, one or two trying to pick up lost or stolen property, and three lawyers meeting with clients.

At any given moment, there were several people locked in the 12th holding cells. People who were awaiting bail, or trial, or transfer to Rikers for everything from shoplifting to Murder One. They were the most calm. If the 12th was sealed up, it made no difference until they got hungry, and the food was being rationed so far.

Castle went to work. A few of the civilians had heard of him, and he had been telling them tales of his adventures with the 12th for over an hour. His natural skill as a storyteller was doing it's job; and Beckett couldn't help but roll her eyes when they started peeking at her in her office. Castle's stories were at their most entertaining when he started including the parts that led to them getting married.

The prisoners were calm, the civilians were being entertained, the police were at their posts, keeping an eye on everything, and the lawyers were already preparing a class action suit for when the Quarantine was lifted.

"All in all..." Castle had declared cheerfully. "I'd say the circle of life is doing it's thing."

* * *

Alexis tried her phone for the eighth time. She couldn't get through to her father. She couldn't get through to  _anyone_.

She heard the front door open, and the sound of heavy scraping soon after. Her heart leaped into her throat and she went looking for the nearest blunt object she could find. She found a baseball bat, signed by Joe Torre.

_Sorry, Beckett, but I need this for more than a collectible now._  Alexis lifted the bat off its mount and started creeping down the stairs.

The man was still in the foyer, pulling an end table against the door and reaching for a the couch.

_He's sealing us in!_  Alexis gripped the baseball bat tightly. "Who are you?!"

"Castle Jr?" The man turned, and pulled the gas mask away. It was Esposito.

The young woman let the bat drop. "Thank god. I have been trying to reach- How did you get up here?"

"Your doorman is infected."

"Ohno, not Murray!" Alexis covered her mouth in shock. "He has kids!"

Esposito started looking for more furniture to pull in front of the door. "What about you? Symptoms?"

"None." Alexis reported dutifully, suddenly talking a mile a minute. "I've been looking up the symptoms of this thing, I don't have any of them. I think I missed it. Though I have no idea how. I've been trying to keep busy and I've been scrubbing every inch of the place. There are rumors all over the net that it's in the money. Grandma was at the Black Friday Sales. I heard from her this morning, and she's-" Her voice cracked a little. "She's got it."

Esposito looked up from the hall table he was pushing to look at her. "I'm sorry, kid."

Alexis looked at his face. He wasn't even offering her hopeful platitudes. "It's as bad as it sounds, isn't it?"

"Afraid so." The Detective nodded. "Your father won't be home for a while, either. The 12th is Quarantined. Some of the bodies in our morgue had it."

Alexis got the implications immediately. "Doctor Parish?"

Esposito wouldn't meet her eyes, but shook his head.

Alexis wilted. Lanie was her friend. It just kept getting worse.

Esposito looked over at her. "Your father said to tell you: 'Clayton Forrester'. He said you'd understand."

Alexis' face changed, and she suddenly looked beyond horrified. "Clear that stuff away from the door." She said quickly. "I've got something a lot better in the hall closet."

It took him a few minutes to do so. While he made room around the front door, Alexis had gone to the closet and produced a large industrial level power drill and some steel brackets with long screws. Esposito wasn't sure what they were for until she put them on either side of the door, and gestured for him to screw them into place right through the concrete walls. Alexis was setting up her front door to take an old fashioned, Medieval style cross-beam barricade. He screwed it in place, and she measured out the door, putting another barricade up for him to secure. Then a third. Then a fourth.

She then led him upstairs to her father's room and turned up the mattress on his bed. The bed frame was made of solid mahogany timber, and the two of them disassembled it, laying the solid timbers across the door perfectly. Five cross beams that could not be accessed from the outside, like an ordinary key lock could.

Esposito was frankly impressed. "Nobody's getting through that without a battering ram."

Alexis wasn't done. She had returned to the closet and come back with a new drill bit, one designed to drill a circle through the door, about two inches across, and a steel shutter that would slide open and closed, like the sort found in maximum security jail cells. "We drill a peephole through the door between the barricades, and put this over it to secure the gap. It's large enough to point your gun through without opening the door." She explained. "The guy with the battering ram won't have a chance."

Esposito was past impressed and well into stunned. "Where is all this coming from, miss sweetness-and-light?"

Alexis had turned to look out the windows. "Clayton Forrester." She said quietly.

"He your supplier for all this survival gear?"

"No. He's our code word." Alexis whispered.

The sounds of helicopters came from outside. Alexis ran to the window and looked up. Her jaw dropped open. "I've never seen so many helicopters in one place at one time. Those are military choppers! Big transport ones!"

"Yup." Esposito fitted the drill bit, and lifted the drill back to the door. "Code word for what?"

The sound of distant explosions boomed across the night sky, huge clouds of smoke billowed up from beyond the New York Skyline, lit by fire that Alexis couldn't see.

"For the End of the World, Detective." Alexis said simply. "It's the End of the World."


	2. Day 3: Extrema Remedia

They followed the news on TV for as long as they could. Police were outmatched. Hospitals shut down from overcrowding. The early cases ran to hospitals, hoping for help, and soon after, a hospital was the last place you wanted to go, swarming with walking petri dishes.

The national guard was called in as riots broke out. Quarantine Zones sliced the city into sections. No matter how loudly the government demanded that people stay where they were, or within their homes, there was always a few who felt the need to get home to their loved ones, or go in to their jobs, and those needs turned violent as fear was turned loose as anger. Helicopters roamed the skyline of Manhattan, raining down tear gas, shock grenades, and even real bullets from time to time, keeping the Zones closed.

* * *

Richard Castle was pretty well equipped. The loft had enormous storage space for all the things he had acquired over the years in the name of book research. Castle had forensic kits, remote controlled craft of every kind, spy gear... Then there were the more ludicrous things. Voodoo Kits, Holy Water, fencing supplies, period costumes from years of Halloween parties, tanks of oxygen, liquid nitrogen... handcuffs, whips, and a few other things Alexis refused to look at too closely...

Survival gear was actually the least bizarre thing that the missing, lamented Richard Castle had stockpiled.

* * *

"Your father keep any weapons in the house?"

"A crossbow that he lost all the ammo for. Our fencing swords aren't sharp enough to be useful... He has two guns, but he keeps them both at his PI Office. Gram was a method actor, and one time we ran through a few scenes... found out later that the gun was loaded."

"We'll have to cover those windows." Esposito said, rolling right past that. "We don't want people looking in and seeing what's going on."

"Nothing  _is_  going on." Alexis said with certainty. "No offense."

Esposito snorted. "Not  _that_. What I mean is, the people across the street have apartments and offices just as high as this one. If they look over and notice that you're fully stocked, it's just going to be inviting a raid."

"You really think this is going to last that long?"

"It only has to last a few days. A week at most." Esposito said grimly.

"Why a week?"

"To save storage costs, every department store, every supermarket, every vendor has less than two weeks of stock on hand. Most households have an average of three days worth of food and drink. Panic buying has already started, which means the shelves will be picked clean by sundown, and with all the streets gridlocked, they won't be getting resupplied for a while. If they close the ports, there'll be no new stock to put on the shelves. The city's going to run out of everything very quickly."

"And since everyone in town has a gun..." Alexis reasoned grimly.

"So let's cover up the windows." Esposito finished.

* * *

"Folks, can I have your attention please?" Kate called, looking a hundred years older. "This morning, the Midtown Hospital reported to Dispatch that we've lost one of our people. Detective Kevin Ryan succumbed to the Plague a few hours ago... about twenty minutes after his wife and daughter."

Low cries of horror and mourning rang out.

"Ryan was more than a good cop. He was a damn good person. And a good friend to us. To me." She cleared her throat against the emotion. "He fought tooth and nail to keep himself and his family going. He fought the good fight, and even when he knew he'd lost, he kept going. If there's anything more to say about a good cop, or a good person... Well, there is. I could keep telling you stories about all the good things he did, and all the ways Ryan made people around him better. But this isn't a wake; it's a battlefield memorial. We never get the chance to give our guys the honor they deserve. Not even a marker."

"Um... I have a marker!" Castle put in. He reached into his wallet and pulled out a picture. "It's... There was that case, at the Carnival, and there was that guy who took photos for the couples. He took a candid shot of Ryan and Espo because he heard them arguing baby names and thought that they were... Well. Y'know."

A warm chuckle broke out at the memory.

"We all had a big laugh about it, and then it turned out we had to confiscate the film because the killer was on one of the pics... I kept some of the photos. They were my friends, and the one thing Instagram doesn't give you is something you can stick in your wallet, or put on the fridge."

Beckett took the picture and pinned it up on the notice board. "In Loving Memory." She said quietly. "Detective Kevin Ryan, NYPD."

* * *

Alexis had taken over the kitchen table, after moving it so her back was to the wall. Richard Castle father had a police scanner and a CB Radio among his many hobbies, and Esposito was drilling her in what the codes meant. She had set up the antenna, and was listening to both feeds in rotation, trying to get news that the television wasn't giving them.

But she suddenly wished she hadn't thought to do that.

"Are you sure?" Esposito said, hollow.

Alexis nodded, tears gathering. "I heard it over the police scanner. The hospital can't get a phonecall out any more than we can, but Dispatch is..." She shook her head. "Kevin Ryan, from the 12th. They said his name."

Esposito said nothing for a long moment, wandering over to the couch. He stared at nothing for a long time.

Alexis came over, and laid a hand on his shoulder. He reached up and put his hand on hers for a moment.

"Detective..." Alexis said kindly. "We've never been really close. Our connection always went through dad. But... I know what Ryan meant to you, if only because dad put it in his books. If you need..."

"Thanks." He croaked. A moment later he suddenly remembered himself. "Oh, what about you?" He scrubbed his face hard with his hands and stood to face her. "I haven't asked. About your gran, your mom, your friends..."

Alexis spread her hands wide. "I... I can't reach any of my friends. I can't reach mom, but she was in California, last I heard. Gran... I was able to reach, and she's got a 5% chance..." She seemed to collapse in on herself for a moment. "I'm trying very hard to be very brave about it."

"You're not doing so badly." Esposito offered.

Alexis sat down beside him. "I don't feel it. My brain spends every free second listing every place I've ever been, everyone I've ever met..." She licked her lips. "There's a spot in the hall closet where you can hear through the vents? You can hear downstairs. There's a woman crying because her little boy can't swallow his flu medicine, and she doesn't know if it's bad enough to take him to a hospital." She closed her eyes. "I don't have kids. I've been unattached for a while... I feel guilty for not having more people to lose. I feel guilty because my downstairs neighbor is trying to get her baby through a bad flu and I know it's worse than that, and I don't even know their names, but I know she's going to be in worse pain than me."

"Whole city's going to be an orphanage soon." Esposito said quietly.

"I know." Alexis whispered. "The news is still calling it a flu outbreak."

"That will change."

"I know." She took a shuddering breath. "And that's almost the worst part. Knowing what's coming." She looked at him. "I don't think I'm strong enough."

"Something I didn't realize until my first warzone? People have such phenomenal ability to keep breathing when they have to. I knew a local guy who lost all five of his kids, and his wife... checked out. But this guy, he was still working every day, just focused on whatever he was doing. Some people just refuse delivery on pain."

"Doesn't seem healthy."

"Probably isn't. I can tell you from experience, kid. You don't get over it, you just keep moving."

"Except for us. We're entrenched."

"We could move on." He snorted. "But I don't think we'd get far just yet."

"I know I can keep breathing. But can I still be... me?" She asked. "Because I look at the water bottles in the closet, and I wonder what I'd do to make sure nobody took them... I've seen Mad Max, Detective. I don't know if I can handle that."

As if to make the point, the sound of gunfire came from somewhere in the building. Alexis twitched at the sound. Soon enough she would be used to it.

* * *

_"We're getting reports that the Mayor has been evacuated to Long Island, which has cut off all transportation from and to Manhattan. City Hall insists that this was a routine trip, and had been on the books for several weeks. This comes within hours of the Police Commissioner resigning in response to the NYPD's inability to counter widespread rioting, due to the manpower shortage caused by the flu outbreak..."_

* * *

"It was a good speech." Castle said softly in her ear.

Beckett was stretched out on her office couch, with his jacket over her like a blanket. Her head lay in his lap as he stroked her hair. More and more, her office was becoming their hiding place. As the only married couple together on the inside, they used her office for privacy. Beckett let the tears roll freely once they were alone. She'd lost a friend, and she couldn't stop working.

"Have you heard anything from Esposito since he spoke to Dino?" Beckett asked softly. "He may not know about Kevin. And Jenny. And Sar-" Her voice cracked again. "Sarah Grace. Jeez, Rick... She was so young...

"Javi delivered the package to One PP, and the reports to the CDC. Beyond that, nothing." Castle shook his head. "But that's not unusual. Phones are all over the place. I haven't had a call that lasted more than three minutes in days."

Beckett looked at him carefully. "Your mom?"

"She's got it. Last I heard, she was going to try for the hospital." Castle looked ancient. "But that was days ago, and we both know the last place you want to be is a hospital."

"I hear that in some hospitals, the staff are carrying weapons now." Kate whispered. "Some desperate people have turned on their nurses and doctors. If you can't cure them, they lynch you."

Castle swore. "How do you fight an outbreak when all the doctors go into hiding?"

* * *

The Stock Exchange had suffered an outbreak. The CDC sealed the building, not allowing the uninfected to walk out, just in case, and soon after, there were no uninfected left. Wall Street had ceased all trading, and with the Exchange shut down, international trading had been shut down soon after. Economic panic gripped the world, causing a massive financial meltdown. Soon after, the banks were crowded with people tying to get their life savings out, and all banks closed for the duration. It soon became clear that money was fast becoming worthless paper, if not a source of illness.

Small wars broke out in every supermarket, gunfights over the last tins of food, people who had known and worked together for years suddenly turning viciously on each other.

The National Guard moved to seize gun stores, but the panicked healthy people were closer, and wherever they went, the infected were too.

With the economy collapsing, there were mass walk-outs from every business and industry across the country; all production was ceasing, transportation would follow soon. The gas stations all went dry in less than a day.

To save money, all points of sale in the Western Hemisphere kept surprisingly little on hand. They trusted the enormous shipping ability of the civilized world to get all goods and services where they needed to be, with precious little room in the schedule for error. With the economy collapsed, those goods sat where they were, quickly fought over and claimed by various parties, or seized by the Government for use by the emergency forces.

Riots sprang up almost instantly, unruly rioters rising up to retake the suddenly irreplaceable food and water. The news ran footage of gridlock as people fled the city. The infected caught up with them and the highways became impassable as the bridges and tunnels were sealed off, and the checkpoints were suddenly fighting off enemies from both directions, until they too fell to the spread of the Green Poison.

That was day three; and then it started to get bad.

* * *

Beckett was rounding up the survivors, keeping them in surgical masks and gloves wherever possible. The offending money was burned, as was clothing, personal items... Anything that might have been contaminated, which was almost anything at this point. Every disinfectant in the place was pressed into service.

Beckett took the coffee pot to the sink and worked the taps. They groaned a little, and spat out a small spray of water, but they were dry. "Water's cut off too." She sighed. Everyone in the 12th had a feeling of... futility. As though it was just listing off the things that were gone. "If the water's off, then the electrics will be next."

"The generator acting up again?" Castle guessed. "Does anyone actually know how it works?"

"Nobody really knows how to repair it. We can replace a spark plug and patch a leak, but... We usually call a repair man for equipment failures."

Castle rolled his head back. "God. It's the same thing outside. Every single fact of day to day life is just... stalled. We built a system so modern and efficient that none of us knew how anything worked."

"We can't make coffee, Castle." Kate nearly whimpered. "I can deal with running gunfights and wild dogs roaming the streets and people scavenging for food in garbage cans and people burning everything from books to hundred dollar bills... But now we can't make  _coffee_."

He held her tightly. "Be brave, my love." He said, just just a hint of melodrama.

Beckett stared mournfully at her empty cup. "This is it. Civilization has collapsed, and the End Times are upon us. All that's left is to build an Ark, and load up the animals." She sighed. "What exactly is a cubit, anyway? I can't do math without coffee."

"So. No water." Her husband mused. "Disinfectants, but no deodorant."

"Fortunately, we're a little ahead of the curve for once on that score." Beckett looked over the 12th's Manifest. "Ramirez busted a bootlegger last week; and seized two hundred bottles of stolen vodka. Real high octane stuff. We've got enough drinking water in the vending machines to last us a week. Two weeks if we don't mind warm soda. This place is gonna stink like a Russian Distillery for a while; but we'll be safe from germs and assorted crawlies."

"And we can't even open a window." Castle quipped grimly.

"And, Castle... I'm sorry. But I can't order a patrol to go protect Alexis right now." Beckett hated herself for saying it. "The City's gone berserk, and-"

"I know." Castle held up his hands soothingly. "I know. If Alexis is at my place, she's probably safer than she would be anywhere else. And as much as I hate being out of contact, I'm happy to have her somewhere safer than a Quarantine ward."

"Thank you for understanding that." Kate cleared her throat hard. "And you're not going either. The streets are just way too dangerous for travel. There's mobs raiding every-"

The general sounds of background noise from outside suddenly grew a lot louder. There was a ripping sound, and natural light fell in the windows directly for the first time since the Quarantine went up. Outside, they saw people. Dozens of them, and they were armed; with clubs and knives and broken bottles...

"They've come for our guns!" Ramirez shouted, drawing her weapon. An instant later she fell back, as a Molotov cocktail came in the window and spread flame across the floor.

"Hold the Bullpen!" Beckett rasped over the smoke, drawing her gun. "Keep the civilians back to the rear, and repel invaders!"

Everyone dove for cover, and the battle began in earnest.

* * *

_"Once again, city officials are assuring Manhattan Residents that water will be back on within the next few days. The cuts, while limited only to a few boroughs, are being caused by pressure changes. Ordinarily, these things would be taken care of without interruption to services, but with manpower shortages in every sector of public works-"_

_"Jack, I'm going to have to interrupt you there. We've been handed an official communique from the Center for Disease Control, regarding the current situation. Before I begin, I'd like to remind viewers that we've literally just been handed this just this second, but it's marked for urgent publication._

_"The latest word is... that... oh my god... Is this confirmed?! I know I'm on the air, dammit! Is. This. Confirmed?!"_

* * *

The gunfight was brutal, but with very little gunfire. Castle wasn't sure if they were low on ammo, or low on guns, or both, but more people were throwing things than shooting. They had the police outnumbered ten to one, but neither side was giving an inch.

Ramirez got on the bullhorn. "You're all breaking the law right now, and we are authorized to use force to stop you! The plague took out everyone in our holding cells, and there's plenty of room for you!" It was a calculated lie that was meant to scare them away from an infected place. It didn't work. " I repeat: You're in violation of CDC Order 348-6/A! That means get the hell out of here before we shoot!"

With a frightening rip, the quarantine seals came down completely as people forced their way in. They were wearing surgical masks and overcoats, but they threw themselves at the barricades, even as the police gunned them down.

One of them got through and lunged for Castle. He was able to twist out of the way and throw a punch back, but the attackers were driven, fueled by a kind of fury that came from hard survival.

Someone lit a flare and threw it at the barricades. The heat and smoke pushed them back a level, as Castle wrestled with his own attacker. The man had him against the wall, and was thrashing with weak blows but manic speed.

Beckett came up behind Castle with her police special and cracked him hard over the skull, spinning to face the attackers. "Ramirez! Flash grenades!"

Castle heard the call and covered his eyes just in time. Brilliant flashes of painful light flashed across his eyelids, and he heard people crying out in pain.

"Push them back!" Beckett shouted hoarsely, and she broke down coughing even as she and the 12th advanced, driving the attackers out.

Castle grabbed the flare and went with them. He hadn't seen the sky in days, and it was an oddly unsettling sight. Nothing moving on the roads. Not even the bodies. Nothing moving but the rats.

Three days had not been kind to New York City.

* * *

_"Once again, our top story: It has been revealed that we were dramatically misinformed on the nature of the current health crisis. The CDC released a statement just moments ago, confirming that the virus has a mortality rate of well over 80%."_

* * *

At this, a tear started to form in the corner of the newscasters eye. But he fought through the catch in his voice. Alexis found the little reaction disturbing, even by her newest standards. The newscasters were meant to be above everything. Untouchable. Undeniable.

* * *

_"Once again, this is no longer a flu outbreak. The White House has declared an emergency, and called for a complete Quarantine of Manhattan Island. There have already been two incidents along the Brooklyn Bridge, resulting in the use of live ammunition as people try to escape. The casualties are in the dozens, and as yet we have no word as to whether or not the use of deadly force was authorized by the Government..."_

* * *

Alexis muted the TV. The news had been on for two days straight. The regular newscaster looked exhausted, sleeves rolled up with a huge coffee cup beside him. Almost all the people who helped were absent from the newsroom in the background. Some of the lights were off. "He's putting on a brave face. You hear that catch when he mentioned the mortality rate?"

Esposito nodded. "Smart money says he's got a few family members in hospital too."

Alexis tapped her headphones, hooked up to the police scanner. "They're still low balling it. What I'm hearing says the rate is more like the mid-90's." She shivered hard. "Why am I not freaking out about this? I feel like I should be going to pieces right now. Does that make me a bad person?"

"Makes you a perfectly regular person." Esposito shook his head. "One loss is a tragedy. A million is a number. Are you getting anything from outside the city?"

"A little Internet traffic, but the connection keeps going up and down. Pretty much every market on the planet has closed. They're freezing all prices and all wages. Every hospital on the planet is jammed with people who are terrified of what might happen."

"Can't be helped, unfortunately. To be expected in fact." Esposito sighed. "What worries me is this: How much else is 'to be expected'?"

* * *

"We got a problem." Castle told her, coming over. "All the civilians? They made a break for it when those plastic sheets came down. Our guys were too busy being shot at to keep them in their areas."

"Not really surprised." Beckett sighed, rubbing her eyes. "Containment may be a moot point. Dispatch is off the air, which means these raids are happening at other Police Stations." She headed back toward her office. "And we've got another problem, babe."

"What's that?"

She entered her office, spun quickly and slammed the door shut between them. "I'm sick." She confessed.

* * *

_"Repeating our earlier Bulletin: it is now illegal to hoard money. All paper currency is to be turned over to CDC personnel for incineration. Those who hide money or attempt to take it back, are now subject to arrest without trial. There are rumors that the penalties may increase to corporal punishment in response to the current crisis, but the Mayor's Office was not available for comment._

_Political commentators that have requested to remain anonymous agree, that several sections of New York are now in a defacto state of Martial Law..."_

* * *

"Look..." Beckett croaked. "There are two possibilities. One, I've got the flu. A regular, everyday, pass the cough syrup, bowl of Chicken Soup, cold and flu. Option Two: The Green Poison got me. I admit, it's not a fun coin toss."

Her entire crew was gathered outside the Captain's Office. What was originally a collection of thirty cops and civilians was now sixteen, the bodies left outside. The board when beckett had put up Ryan's picture now included several others.

Captain Beckett was giving them direction from the other side of her glass office windows. She looked sweaty and pale, but her gaze was still sharp.

"I'm not taking any chances. So you guys are all staying on  _that_  side of the glass." Beckett declared. "Dispatch reported similar raids all over the city before they went off the air. With the gun shops protected or looted and the National Guard deployed, Cop Shops are pretty much the only places with gear left." She rubbed her face. "And as much as this goes against the grain, we have to hold them out. We're outnumbered a hundred to one already, and that's only going to get worse. Tell anyone outside Quarantine to deploy around the Precinct, and everyone inside begin building fortifications. Gun points, barricades... Anything you can think of."

Her people nodded, worried for their captain.

"And tape up my office." She directed. "All the vents, all the seals. Scrub down the Bullpen again. Even if it's just a cold, I don't want you guys getting it, particularly not now." She looked over to her husband. "And someone handcuff Castle to something before he-"

Castle jumped forward, opened the door to her office, and slipped inside, slamming it shut behind him.

"-does that." Beckett finished. "Excuse us a moment, people." She reached out and dropped the blinds on her office windows; giving them privacy. "ARE YOU INSANE?!"

Everyone turned quickly away from the office, pretending they hadn't heard that.

* * *

Alexis was starting to feel more like a soldier than a PI's assistant. Her little station with the radio had expanded to include a dozen city maps. Alexis kept her headphones on and put up a map of the city, monitoring the police band with one ear, and the civilian communications with the other. Her maps covered every street in Manhattan, and Alexis was using push pins and markers to keep track of things outside the building.

Esposito spent his time at the window with a scope, keeping an eye on foot traffic and the skyline. He saw people falling in the streets; and nobody was coming to help them. He had broken down some of the furniture and built barricades in the house itself. If anyone made it past the front door, there were now three fortified, well stocked places that he and Alexis could fall back to. Out the window he could see people hanging banners, asking for help and supplies, or warning people away. Every now and then a large military plane would parachute supplies down to the city like it was the third world.

Alexis finally took her headphones off with a weary sigh. "What a mess."

"I know that look." Esposito observed, and presented her with a cup of precious coffee. "Back in Afghanistan, the guys running Command in Control looked just like you after a bad day. As bad as it is on the front lines, you never see more than one battlefield at a time. The guys running Ops see the whole board. And worse, they have to keep it all straight or people die."

"I'm so glad I'm just receiving." Alexis agreed, taking a long sip. "I'd never be able to handle it if I was responsible for any of these people. Detective, I appreciate you keeping me busy, but-"

"That's not what I'm doing. This isn't make work." He said seriously. "Alexis, I need you to get yourself into a mental place where you can accept three things as fact. One: It's not nearly close to over yet. Two: It will never go back to the way it was a week ago..."

"And three?"

"That sooner or later, we'll have to get out of this apartment." Esposito said grimly. "It's inevitable. We can hold off an army, but sooner or later our supplies will run out. Unless you plan to start a rooftop vegetable garden that can support two people year round."

"I actually played with that idea for a few minutes, but we've got all the wrong supplies, and it would take too long to set up." Alexis sighed. "You're right. We have to know what's happening before we open that door."

"That's right. So. What  _is_  happening?"

"Total anarchy." Alexis said simply. "You heard that line about the wait times for ambulances? That's because the ambulances are all getting mobbed and looted; and the hospitals don't have room for anyone either. A few free clinics have opened, but they don't have any supplies. The National Guard have left the supermarkets, because they've all been picked clean. I'm hearing talk from all the truck drivers that say they're on permanent leave. You can't drive a truckload of  _anything_  in this city without being overrun by hungry people. Not just supermarket trucks. Computers, toys, diapers, construction equipment... I've heard a few guys starting up a co-op; but they went off the air a few hours ago after a sudden hail of gunfire."

Esposito let out a breath. "High 90's, huh? It might actually be our only hope."

"Tell me about it." Alexis agreed. "We always say it can't happen here. Then you wake up and the lights and water are off for keeps..."

"I know what you mean." Esposito nodded over at the radio. "Dispatch?"

"Haven't heard anything on those frequencies for over an hour." Alexis shook her head. "The last two things I heard? A report from the Fire Marshall, saying that fires are raging out of control in Central Park, and the East Village. The CDC gave orders to the National Guard to start burning the bodies last night."

Esposito looked at the map. She'd put tabs all over the map, but there was one section that was totally bare. "What about there?"

Alexis shook her head. "I haven't heard a word out of  _anyone_  in that area. I hear a few people saying they're going to head for the Empire State, or Fifth Avenue... but I never hear anything after that. That Zone is Dark."

"That's a big chunk of the island to go quiet." Esposito hummed and turned to go. A moment later, he caught himself. "Oh, you said you heard  _two_  things before Dispatch went quiet?"

Alexis nodded grimly. "The 12th was hit. They say that over two dozen people attacked the Quarantine line, trying to get to their guns, or their food... They say the attack was repelled, but I hear them saying it was a bad fight."

Esposito grit his jaw so hard his teeth hurt. He wanted to scream, but he was vividly aware of the fact that her father and stepmother were in there too. "Well. Nothing we can do for them yet."

* * *

"Why are you doing this?"

"You're my wife. Do I need another reason?"

Beckett's eyes softened, but her jaw hardened. "I need you to be safe."

"Babe, we wake up every morning, nose-to-nose. I daresay if I'm going to get it from you, it's already happened. It's better if I'm on this side of the glass too."

"You don't know that!" Beckett barked. "We don't know how it's transmitted, human to human. You don't have any symptoms." She looked hard at him. "And What About Alexis?"

Castle met her gaze head on. "Alexis... is my whole world. But she's an adult now. And every time someone took a shot at us over the last eight years, my mom asked the same question. Well, you know what? Ryan has... had kids. He put the badge on every day. He couldn't look at his daughter and not be out there, making the world safer for Sarah Grace."

"That's different." Kate coughed. "You can't protect me from this. And if you're in this room, I can't protect you."

Castle smiled softly. "You remember the time you stood on a landmine? You flat out ordered me to leave the building with everyone else. I stayed."

"You were gambling that you could save me." Beckett pointed out.

"And now I'm gambling that you have a cold; and you certainly aren't going to look after yourself in a time of siege." Castle finished. "And if it was me, don't pretend you wouldn't have done the exact same thing."

"Oh, of course I would have. That's not the point." Kate barked. "You have people that need you, with or without me! And I don't!"

Castle froze. "Your dad?"

"I got a text." Beckett said quietly. "It's not good news." She spread her hands wide. "I can't even call him back."

Castle stepped forward, arms open. She scurried back a few steps. "Oh no you don't!" She snapped, getting determined. "Go. Leave. I'll divorce you if I have to! Do it for Alexis! Go home!"

"Kate..." Rick drawled, soft and gentle. "After this long, isn't it obvious? This place  _is_  home to me now."

Kate let out a whine. "I'm trying to protect you."

"After Bracken, and 3XK, and Bracken again, and his Cronies, and Vulcan Simmons, and everything else in between... That reason is so old I can't stand the taste of it any more." Castle told her firmly. "After last time, we agreed: Never again. You always protect me, wife. But someone has to protect 'us' in the middle."

Kate squeezed her eyes shut. "What about Alexis?"

"She is... as safe as I can make her."

Kate froze. "How? What happened? What did you do?"

He just took two steps closer and wrapped her in a tight hug. She gave in and hugged him back. "You're stupid, you know that?" She said into his shoulder. "You're stupid, and crazy and have the survival instincts of a rock, and I don't know why you keep coming back for more."

"It's called 'marriage', babe." Castle smiled back.

"It's a good thing I love you so much." She groused, but he could feel her lean into his arms gratefully.

* * *

Esposito heard sniffing, and turned from his post at the windows. There was only one window left uncovered. One that had a view of the street, but not the other buildings around them. If he couldn't see them, they couldn't see him.

He heard Alexis sniffing, and went to check on her. As much as he wanted to let the kid mourn in peace... He had to make sure it was heartbreak and not plague.

He took one look at her, curled in the fetal position beside her father's mattress, and knew instantly. "Want me to go?"

She waved him in and sat upright against the wall. "I'm afraid I'm not quite that ready for things after all."

"Ready doesn't mean heartless." Esposito said quietly. "What happened?"

"I don't know. Page 121."

_This is Clayton Forrester all over again._  "Gonna need some details, kid."

Alexis sniffed, wiping tears away. "Why didn't I feel this before? I knew grandma was gone after the first phone call. All my friends... This morning, I tried to boil some water, and the taps were dry... I didn't react. I heard on dad's police radio that the 12th got hit. Nothing. Then I just... I noticed that book dad was reading. He only half finished it. His bookmark is on page 121. And I thought... Even if he's alive, he'll never get to 122, and I just completely lost it. Why now? Why that and not any of the other things?"

"Because... you're not busy." Esposito sighed, sitting with her. "I've been feeling it too. When I got the call and knew Ryan had it, I was ready to punch something. It's been days of working hard and keeping my adrenaline up and you've been the same way. We've been doing everything we can not to think about the people we know and focus on the big crowd of people we don't. But now the place is set up, and the routine has settled, and you're so quick with the radio that you don't even do it consciously any more; and your brain has more time to dwell on things."

She wiped her eyes and sat up straighter. "Esposito, can I ask? Why are you still here?"

"Everyone's got to be somewhere." He waved it off.

"No, really. I want to know." Alexis sniffed. "I wish I was anywhere but here. Anywhere but the place I grew up in. When I was abroad, I had to deal with whole other cultures, other languages... I never missed my bed because it was completely out of reach, and I never missed my mocha latte, because such things simply didn't exist in that world. But I'm here, in my own room, and I can't hit Twitter, or play laser tag with dad, or even look out the window. It's all so horribly familiar and personal that I keep expecting everything to be normal. If I was in a refugee camp, I wouldn't miss anything of the world that's gone." She wiped her eyes. "But I'm in my own room, and I keep expecting grandma to walk in any second and ask me to run lines with her, or dad to make smiley-face pancakes."

"So you just get constant reminders that everything is wrong." Esposito nodded. "For what it's worth... I wish I felt that way."

"You do?"

"When I left the marines and came back to the States, I couldn't switch it off for a long time." He explained. "Went to a bar that wasn't full of uniforms. Women came over and flirted and I didn't know how to flirt back. Beds were comfortable, and nobody cared if I made my bed or not... Lounging on the couch and watching sports all weekend was so decadent I hated myself for it. It felt like I was on another planet." He rubbed his eyes. "Never really got used to being a civilian again. Aside from the gang at the 12th, I didn't have friends. I have no family to speak of, and the only woman I truly loved is gone..." He held out a hand to the girl. "I think that even if you don't know for sure, you've lost a lot more than me, Castle Jr. But that's only because you have so much."

Alexis squeezed his fingers gratefully. "So. You're here because you've got nowhere else to go?"

"I knew I had to wait out the first wave of it somewhere. When the Quarantine went up around the 12th, I couldn't go there. I would have gone back to my apartment, but your dad asked me to protect you. And after that... well, why would I go anywhere else? Safety, security, provisions, position, and someone I trust to help keep watch. Seriously, where else would anyone want to be?"

"I don't know." Alexis sighed. "I wouldn't mind having some of that 'lone soldier' detachment right now. How do you switch it all off?"

"They train you." Esposito said simply. "When you're in college, and you need to study, but your friends are all going to a party, how do you keep your focus?"

"Shut the door, put on headphones, switch off the phone." Alexis recited, almost by rote.

"Right. That, right there, is an example of training yourself. Plenty of kids would have gone to the party. How does a firefighter figure out which way to go in an unfamiliar building when everything is covered in smoke and flame?"

"Training." Alexis nodded.

Esposito considered a moment. "If you're interested, I could-"

"Yes." She said instantly. "Yes, please"

Esposito smirked. "You got drafted by the world, but it's good that you still wanna volunteer."

"Well, the way I figure it, there are plenty of people in the world who wake up one day and their street is a warzone. How many people on this planet live out of their cars and carry guns everywhere they go?"

"Too many." Esposito nodded.

As if to make the point for them, they heard gunshots ring out a few streets away. Neither of them even blinked. They'd been hearing it all week. Someone was crying out in pain, someone was shouting for help. They didn't shout for long.

"Maybe we should just make a break for it." Alexis suggested. "Dad and I always said that if the worst happened, we would wait it out, but... I don't know, maybe that's suicide?"

"No worse than trying to get out of the city with the military still patrolling the Hudson." Esposito shook his head. "We're defended, we're stocked. That's more than most people can say right now, so let's take advantage."

"I don't want to wait it out, and I don't want to get out of the city." Alexis told him. "I wanna find my dad."

FWOOOSH!

Alexis ducked instinctively as the windows rattled. "What the hell was that?"

"F-14's." Esposito told her, his face going hard. "New York is a big town. Got news choppers and private helicopter pads... The Government is sealing off the city. Those planes are going for anything that can fly or get across a river."

And with that, the power went out.

* * *

The Castle residence was the top floor, but the windows didn't open in a skyscraper. Alexis had compromised and smashed out the window in her father's bedroom. Some of the windows tilted, like a sunroom. Esposito had to pick out the glass shards carefully to make sure they didn't go through when they climbed up.

She'd already dismantled the bed and ransacked the closets. Esposito had climbed out the window to the roof, freehand, and tossed back a rope for her to secure. He'd barricaded the rooftop access, and they had the entire rooftop to themselves, without having to risk the staircase.

They made the trip at night, so that nobody would observe, and set up some improvised equipment. The roof had given them melted snow to drink. It was basically a plastic tub with a tarp to funnel snow in. The whole thing was wrapped in tinfoil to reflect sunlight enough to melt the snow, and a washed out vacuum tube had given them a steady supply of water. Esposito had a solar battery charger with his emergency gear. Enough power the radio, and one phone. They tried to rig anything that might give them more power, but without success. Alexis didn't have a cable that could extend the antenna of her radio gear that high.

But the rooftop had a satellite dish.

* * *

Alexis went through her father's closet again. Her father had money enough to be stylish, but had never been a real clotheshorse, expect for costume parties... But even so, Alexis had a happy family memory tied to every outfit in the closet. Things she hadn't even noticed at the time.  _That was the shirt he wore on my first day of Third Grade. That was the jacket he wore at the first book launch party I attended on his arm._

She heard Esposito come back down the rope and quickly shut the closet.

"I have good news, and bad news." Esposito reported as he came back inside. "The good news is that I can rig my phone to the satellite signal. That wi-fi repeater you gave me won't carry the signal, no matter what I tried; so we can't use it from here. If it was plugged into a phone line, it would work, but not a satellite." He grinned at her. "Where'd you learn how to do that, by the way?"

"College. A few of the Seniors from the engineering classes would tell a pretty girl how to get free internet if you asked them just right." Alexis smirked. "Don't tell my dad. And the bad news?"

"The bad news, is that even if I can make a phone call through some slight of hand, there's almost no chance that we can call the 12th. Someone on the other end would need a solar battery charger, and would have to pull the same sleight of hand with their phone."

Alexis nodded. "I figured. But it'll give us internet access when we're on the roof, and that's going to be worth more than gold. I have a million questions I need answers to. Purifying water, how to cure and store food without electricity... All sorts of things." She pulled out a notepad. "But for tonight, there's actually something worse."

Esposito sighed. "The cold."

Alexis nodded. "I've been watching the temperature during my watch overnight... And I figure in another two days, we either figure out how to heat this place, or we have to pack on some serious calories to make it through the night. Doubling up under a sleeping bag will only cut it for so long."

"And your dad would kill me on principle if we did that." Esposito said lightly. "Okay. Heat is electric, furnace downstairs is gas. The furniture we don't use is largely spoken for... We both know there's no chance of getting the furnace going. How do we heat the place?"

"We need a fireplace. One that doesn't need the gas."

Esposito shook his head. "The smoke will be seen. It'll be like sending up a flare."

Alexis didn't think that was the huge risk he seemed to think it was, but she was willing to take his word for it. "We keep the fire out during the day, use it at night. Nobody will see the smoke. There's so many fires burning out of control outside that nobody will care."

"They'll see the fire at night." Esposito shook his head. "They'll see the glow of it."

"Then we need a good fireplace."

"A fire big enough to heat a place this size..."

"We don't have to. We use one room, preferably a smaller one. My dad's walk in closet would be big enough if we use the sleeping bags. If we want to drag in mattresses-"

"Sleeping bags are fine." Esposito put in. "This is a loft space. It's all large open spaces. Hard to heat. But there's no ventilation in the closets-

"Which we can handle."

"-and very little of the unused furniture is wood." He finished. "So back to the same problem. Where do we get the fuel?"

Alexis looked sick to her stomach. "I'm afraid I can only think of one place."

* * *

Days passed. The sound of gunfire faded eventually, whether the survivors outside were running out of bullets, or out of targets, they weren't sure.

Alexis dared to knock on a neighbors door, and barely missed being shot through the wood for her trouble. Esposito forbade her to go looking for salvage after that. They probably still had more food than anyone else.

They had already dismantled most of the furniture in the apartment. The wood was used to make barricades and other defenses. The kitchen cabinet and wardrobe doors were all used to board up the windows, and stay hidden from the world outside. Alexis spent most of an afternoon making a makeshift chimney out of the drainage pipe Esposito had climbed to the rooftop. They rigged a small fireplace in the kitchen oven, and knocked out the hotplate so their chimney had a place to go.

Between the two of them, they got the thing upstairs and drilled ventilation into the closet door so they wouldn't suffocate.

Duct tape was enough to hold it together and put the chimney up through the building's central heating pipes. What used to be air conditioning was now a way to hide the smoke of their fire from people outside.

Alexis was almost hoping it wouldn't work.

* * *

Castle held vigil over his wife. She stretched out on the office couch, and he tucked everything he could find around her to keep the captain warm. Beckett was still coughing and spluttering, though they tried to hide it. The rest of the bullpen was a refugee center. The uninfected huddled together for warmth, praying it wasn't just going to make them sick. Beckett still got reports and gave orders, but all of them through the glass in the office door. Castle had made his choice. Nobody let him out.

"We're going to need a latrine of some kind soon." She croaked.

"There's a bucket in the Janitor's Closet. I'll have them bring it over to the door." He promised. "How do you not become captain of a precinct with an  _en suite_  office?"

"Just lazy, I guess." She coughed.

"Of course, if I was any kind of a husband, I'd have put a hot shower and a working bidet in months ago."

"I know, why did I marry you?" She tried to smile for him, and broke down coughing again. "Aside from your 'ruggedly handsomeness."

"So. Where were we up to?" Castle asked quietly.

"Battery must be nearly flat by now." Beckett coughed.

"Good for another night."

"And how far do we have to go in this book?"

"About two hundred pages."

"We're never going to make it." Beckett croaked. It was hard not to think that she was talking about more than the book.

Castle shushed her and brushed the hair back from her sweaty face. "We'll find a way." He promised. "We always do." His breath was misting, and she could see his lips tinged blue. He wouldn't even take his own jacket back, tucking it around her neck.

Beckett didn't argue. Her will was still as strong as ever, but her body was at its weakest point.

Castle slouched down on the floor beside her couch, on the floor beside her head. She reached one hand out from under her covers and squeezed his hand. Castle held it, and lifted his reader with the other. "Anyway...  _'There was such peace and beauty in the scene; so much of brightness and mirth in the sunny landscape; such blithesome music in the songs of the summer birds; such freedom in the rapid flight of the rook, careering overhead; so much of life and joyousness in all; that, when the boy raised his aching eyes, and looked about, the thought instinctively occurred to him, that this was not a time for death; that Rose could surely never die when humbler things were all so glad and gay; that graves were for cold and cheerless winter: not for sunlight and fragrance. He almost thought that shrouds were for the old and shrunken; and that they never wrapped the young and graceful form in their ghastly folds.'_ "

"Amen to that." Beckett coughed.

Castle was silent a moment. His fingers tightened on hers.

"She's okay, Rick." Beckett promised.

"I don't know. I suddenly have a bad feeling."

* * *

"Somewhere out there, my father just felt someone walk on his grave." Alexis sighed miserably.  _If he's even alive..._

Esposito took a sleeping bag one side of the makeshift fireplace. Alexis took the other side. They curled around it like a Yin-and-Yang. Each of them had a Nikki Heat first edition. They read a page, tore it out, moved on to the next page. Every few minutes, they fed the fire.

"He will disown me when he finds out we burned books." Alexis whispered. "Burned  _his_  books, no less. First Editions."

"We saved them for last. Blame me." Esposito offered. "But if it matters, I think he'd torch every Castle Book on the planet if you needed to stay warm."

* * *

_"Riker's Island is in a state of full siege this morning, following a prison uprising that has already taken two dozen lives. Reports are that the Prisoners have barricaded themselves inside the complex, and have driven out or killed the entire staff. Our reports say that the manpower shortage has- Wait. This just in... The National Guard has sealed off-_

_**PANDEMIC ALERT. EMERGENCY BROADCAST SYSTEM. THIS IS NOT A TEST.** _

* * *

"Pull!" Alexis called.

Esposito threw the china plate, Frisbee style. Alexis lined up Esposito's gun and pulled the trigger. Miss.

Alexis tried not to scream in frustration. It was her third miss.

Esposito was unflappable. "You keep pulling the trigger. It's pulling off your aim. A bullet is very small; it's easy to miss. You have to  _squeeze_  the grip, like the thing is a rubber ball. You only have one finger on the trigger, but you're a beginner, so you can save some time by squeezing all of them."

Alexis sighed. "This is easier with laser tag. No recoil."

Javier nodded, and they both looked up as a helicopter crossed the sky. It had people hanging from the undercarriage, clawing to get in, even as it flew. It was a scene out of a horror movie, like everything else they'd seen.

"Clayton Forrester." Esposito said after a while. "How exactly is that a code word? It's been bugging me for almost a week now."

"Has it only been a week?" Alexis sighed. "Tom Cruise."

"Oh, that makes it clearer, thank you." The ex-cop drawled.

Alexis smirked the way her father did, and explained. "War of the Worlds, 2005. Tom Cruise sees the alien machine for the first time, barely escapes with his life, and makes it home to his two kids. He looks like he's been through a war... which he has. His kids are scared to touch him because he's so wired, and they ask him what happened. He says to them, 'We're leaving this house in sixty seconds, grab food.'"

Esposito nodded. "I remember."

"I watched that on DVD with my dad, and asked him, as a joke: if I came into the house one day and said that, would he take it on faith and start packing? Or would he tell me to stop being silly, and make me sit down to explain what was going on?"

"I've never known your father to call you silly." Esposito said seriously. "Not once, in ten years."

Alexis nodded somberly. "Clayton Forrester was the hero in the 1950's version of War of the Worlds."

**Boom!**  Somewhere out of sight, the helicopter had crashed. It was the last thing they had seen moving in the air for three days.

"How did it happen so fast?" Alexis breathed.

Esposito gave a tight grin. "The news says the incubation rate is two weeks. It happened the day after Thanksgiving, and we only just found out about it now."

"There's a guy who runs a pirate podcast." Alexis said. "They've been playing it on the radio for a while. Word is that the Government had a vaccine made, but didn't deploy it in time, and so it's fairly well useless now."

"You believe him?"

Alexis waved out at the city. "The evidence to back it up or disprove it is out there somewhere. Funny thing, but... When there's some bad news, you just believe it." She gave him a careful look. "What abotu you? Think the Government knew about it?"

Esposito was unreadable. "It's all I can do not to assume they  _created_  the damn thing." He sighed, more tired than angry.

Numb silence.

"Pull!" Alexis said, in the mood to shoot something.

Esposito threw a plate. She fired, and nailed the thing squarely in the middle.

* * *

Castle rose from a fitful sleep and got to his feet. The bullpen was still. There were still people, but they hadn't woken up yet. Kate was snoring behind him. She hadn't slept much, finding it hard to breathe comfortably.

When the night watch came in to wake their relief, Castle realized something. One of the civilians that stayed... wasn't moving. He knocked lightly on the glass to get their attention. "Check him." He motioned to the still form of a man in a badly rumpled suit.

Ramirez went over, and prodded him with the toe of her boot. A moment later she jumped back, swore fluently and grabbed for her gloves.

That was enough for Castle, who shook his wife awake. "Kate, wake up. Quarantine failed."

* * *

Esposito woke up and found Alexis was exercising. They both had a workout routine now. Alexis found she had fewer nightmares when she had exercised, and threw herself into it with a ferocity that neither of them had expected.

Esposito was also training her in some basic hand to hand combat, and she was teaching him fencing. She hadn't expected him to be interested or impressed, but he was actually pretty good at it. "Fencing is just a knife fight with a really long blade." He had said. "Plenty of weapons work this way. Machetes, shock wands, collapsible batons..."

Alexis saw the logic, but wasn't sure she liked the idea of being a knife-fighter. She kept that thought to herself. She was doing sit-ups. It took her mind off things, but she missed hot showers when she was working up a sweat every morning.

Esposito pulled his phone from the windowsill, where the solar charger was keeping it alive. His morning routine was to take it up to the roof and check the news. The sattelite was unpowered, but still pointed in the right direction, so he was able to get just enough of a feed to get updates. "Well. This sucks."

* * *

"Well, we know why Quarantine failed." Castle reported. "The guy in question is one of the Civilians that stayed after the attack. He was a lawyer. He decided to stick around, since the streets were so dangerous, but it looks like he didn't take your orders about burning the contaminants seriously."

"He kept the money." Beckett said from the couch, unsurprised.

"And died with a roll of fifties in his hand." Castle yawned. "The good news is: He didn't share, obviously."

Beckett was about to speak, when her phone rang. The sound made Castle jump. It was the first sound of anything from civilization in what felt like forever. Everyone looked up, spooked. It was the Captain's private emergency line.

"Here we go." Beckett said under her breath. Castle brought her the phone. She was moving less.

* * *

"They're blowing up the tunnels and bridges. The checkpoints apparently won't hold longer than another day. " Esposito said darkly. "The checkpoints authorized the use of lethal force three days ago, and people keep trying to make a break for it. Better to shut down the routes for good. They've also declared a no fly zone, in case anything with people tries to get off the island. Coast Guard is patrolling the river with shoot first orders. Apparently someone jacked a police boat to try and get out, so they're not making any exceptions."

"But that means their relief teams can't get in." Alexis said, trying to understand. "How do they plan... to..." She trailed off. "Oh. They don't."

Esposito nodded.

"It's over, isn't it." Alexis whispered. It wasn't even a question.

"It looks that way, but not necessarily." Esposito ground out. "So they decided not to send help. Who would they send in? National Guard? Army? CDC? Special Ops? This is New York City, Castle Jr. I got rats in my basement that can kick the crap outta all those guys put together."

Alexis smiled, just a little.

"So this doesn't mean we're licked. It just means that nobody else gets in... or out. The usual players have abandoned us, but that just means there are new players now."

"Like who?" Alexis drawled. "Who's going to help us now? I mean, for that matter, who  _could_  help us if they tried?" She blinked. "And what's  _that_?"

Esposito followed her gaze, and what he saw made his heart stop for a moment, and then speed up triple time.

His watch was glowing. A bright orange ring around the face of the digital clock.

Esposito was suddenly filled with lethal energy. " _Extremis Malis, Extrema Remedia_."

"Desperate times call for desperate measures." Alexis translated.

Esposito rolled his eyes. "She speaks Latin, too. My god, Kid. Where did your dad find you?"

Alexis snorted. "You should have heard some of the tales he spun out when I asked him where babies come from."

Esposito grinned and went to his travel bag. He pulled out a gas mask and tossed it to her. "Well. What say we go ask him if he's come up with some new ones?"

Alexis jumped up. "Really?" She had the gas mask on in seconds. Her backpack was already packed, waiting by the door.

"One more thing." Esposito drew his backup piece, and held it out to her, grip first. "Just in case."

Alexis stared at the weapon, and shook her head. "No."

"You're sure?"

"Detective, I don't know much about guns, but what I do know is that if I had one, I might be tempted to use it. And that means I may stick around somewhere when it'd be safer to stay away. I'd rather be a live rabbit than a dead wolf."

Esposito put the gun away where he could reach it quickly. "Then stay close by."

* * *

Hayley Shipton, P.I.; was sitting at the bar of a speakeasy near the river. Their supply of stolen of salvaged booze had run out, and they were making moonshine as fast as they could ferment anything from a potato to a gym sock. She nursed a glass of paint thinner and pretended to sip it, while the bartender blackmailed two teenage boys. "You guys wanna drink here, you're going to have to pay for your drinks. You don't have ID, and I can't believe you're older than sixteen; so you pay double."

One of the kids heaved his heavy backpack up onto the counter. "We've got stuff to trade."

He opened the bag, and both Hayley and the bartender struggled not to gape. The kids had enough food and medicine and drinking water to make the bag fit to burst. In the current situation, they were essentially waving a whole bagful of treasure around. It was an open invitation.

"Give the brats a break, Tony." Hayley toasted. "It's not like we haven't all aged a hundred years since last Tuesday."

The bartender flipped her off, and collected three cans of food from the boys, who took their drinks over to a table.

Hayley slid off the barstool and went over to them. "Hey there." She said brightly. "Just so you know, you take one sip, and you'll go blind. When you feel your way back to the bar to tell Tony this, he'll call in his mates. They'll say they're taking you to a clinic a few streets away, but really, they'll just toss you in the river."

The boys froze. "But... repeat business?"

"Ordinarily, sure. But you guys made a point of carrying everything useful you had in your backpack, and then you showed the bartender your whole stash. You think he's going to let you guys carry a bag full of food away from him? You're so obvious about it that you're going to be crossed out sooner or later. It's just a question of who gets your bag, Big Spender."

"The bartender is... watching you." One of the boys said softly. "He knows you're warning us."

"No, he thinks that I saw the backpack and am trying to negotiate a deal right now. Four women have been in here the last two days, offering to trade food for... services."

The teenagers actually looked hopeful for a moment. "Are you?"

"Don't be a dick." Hayley said nicely. "Besides, you couldn't afford me. Now. Stand up, offer me your arm, and we'll walk out of here, nice and casual."

They did so, and once they were a good distance away, Hayley reached into the bag and took a tin of tuna. "Consider it my fee for saving your life." She told them, when she noticed her watch. It was glowing a bright orange. "Finally!" She breathed. "Make it two tins, boys; my rates just doubled."

* * *

"Folks, may I have your attention, please?" Beckett called to the room. "I have received the last word from the State Department. The Quarantine is not being rescinded, and nobody is being scheduled for extraction. The official ruling is that they can't afford to let any more Vectors off the Island."

"Vectors. You mean people." Ramirez scorned.

"I'm afraid that's exactly what I mean." Beckett said with grim finality. "I have been informed by the Federal Authorities that as of ten minutes ago, all services and Public Works have been suspended in the Manhattan area. The Powers That Be have declared it a lost cause. This morning the President gave an Executive order, granting a general amnesty on insurance claims and contract entitlements for anything lost in the Manhattan Quarantine. That includes the Banks, the Industry... All the Corporate Interests have removed or written off whatever bits of precious they have on the island. Those offices have been shut down, and the workers dismissed."

"When McDonald's pulls out, you know it's bad." Castle quipped grimly.

"Oh, it gets worse. Any service that comes from Government Offices, or any funding that comes from Taxpayer money, is now cut off. Your mail won't be delivered, water and power are where you make it, because the Works is shut down... If you were on a mailing list for anything from a magazine subscription to a delivery of life-and-death medicine, it won't ever be delivered to a Manhattan address ever again. And that includes Hospitals, Fire Departments... and Us. The NYPD is hereby disbanded."

She'd been expecting them to roar, but they didn't. In fact, there was a feeling of total... inevitability about it. She had announced something they already knew.

"Did they give us any ideas on what we should do?" Someone asked.

"They say that they're getting a handle on the incubation period, and the life expectancy of the virus. If it can't feed on a victim, it starves. If we can outlast it, then sooner or later, the Quarantine is lifted. But that'll take months. At least."

Numb laughter. It was a miracle they had survived the first ten minutes.

Beckett rubbed her eyes. "Look, there's no way off the Island. Manhattan is a No Man's Land now, and that means that the bridges and tunnels will be severed as of thirty seconds ago. Most of your families are somewhere in the city. I know you've all been champing at the bit to go and see them. I've kept you here with a lot of bold speeches about Duty, and Honor, and The Greater Good, and Serve and Protect... But as of ten minutes ago, I'm not your boss any more; and this isn't a police station. Anyone who wants to go is free to do so. You've all been briefed on how to avoid infection; and salvage or make food and water. My last act as your Captain is to issue any weapons, ammo or survival gear that the building has, equally and fairly to everyone who stuck it out this long. It's the only thing I can offer you as a reward for your service to the City. If you wanna go, I won't think less of you. I wish you Good Luck and Godspeed."

"What are you going to do, Cap'n?" Someone asked.

Beckett let out a hard sigh. "I'm staying. The world may have given up on New York... And New York may have given up on Hope. I haven't. Before I became Captain, I was Homicide. I know the War is a Lost Cause... but that's been the job description for my entire adult life. Anyone who wants to stay... I'll do my best to keep you fed, and keep you secure. But this isn't another Gang I'm forming. We all know the Factions have already formed outside. I don't intend to dig myself a deep hole and wait it out... Though that's the best chance of living through this. Serve and Protect. Even in the face of Oblivion."

There was a long silence.

And then someone... Ramirez, it looked like, stood up, faced the Captain, and saluted crisply. After a moment, Cooper did the same. Then Malone. Then McCoy...

Until every cop left in the 12th rose and stood with their Captain.


	3. One Of Us

The shock of fresh air made Alexis gasp. She hadn't been in direct sunlight in days and she'd forgotten it completely. Looking over, she saw similar thoughts on Esposito's mind.

With most of the windows covered over for secrecy, they hadn't had a good look outside since they had worked on the roof together. Esposito had taken over the outside duties.

Snow was everywhere, melted to mush and refrozen without having been run over by traffic or sweepers. Trash had piled up on the streets... and so had the bodies. Everywhere they looked was another reminder of the devastation. On the towers along the skyline, Alexis could make out makeshift banners, calling for help. Down the far end on a brickstone, Alexis could see wild graffiti that prophesied the end of the human race, and she wasn't so sure it was wrong. The other way she saw lines of cars, most of them parked, some of them crashed. but all of them had their petrol caps open. They'd been siphoned.

But by far, the most horrifying details, were the things that were totally normal. The same billboards that Alexis had seen the last time she'd walked this street. The same commercials for Christmas sales, decorations lining the windows, even the ones with bulletholes...

"Well. Shall we?" She started walking.

"That's West. The 12th is this way." Esposito pointed the way he was going.

"I know. But Grandma is this way." Alexis pointed the opposite direction. "Once you hit the subway line, it's not that far out of our way, Detective."

"Not that far when you have a working car." Esposito returned. "But for us? Six blocks could be the difference."

"Well, look at it this way, Detective." Alexis returned. "Either I check on my Grandmother, and we go tell my dad what we find, or we go straight to my dad, and his first move will be to go try and find her himself."

Esposito sighed under his breath. "Fine." He turned to follow. "And thank you for not threatening to go alone."

"I think we both know better at this point." Alexis agreed. "I would go alone, if you forced me to, but I don't think either of us would make it far." She smirked. "Well,  _you_  would, I guess."

"Don't underestimate yourself, kid." Esposito said honestly. "You were more ready for it than anyone else in the street. More prepared than most of New York, as it happened."

* * *

They found Martha's apartment. Alexis pulled her spare key, and they let themselves in, donning their masks. "Grandma?"

The room was cold, dark... The knick-knacks on the shelves were covered in a light layer of frost. Esposito searched the rooms, leading with his gun. One of the windows was broken. The bed was rumpled. There were drops of blood on the pillow.

"Detective!" Alexis called in worry, and Esposito hurried to join her.

The front door had been spray-painted. A yellow cross with numbers in the quadrants. In the dark hallway, they hadn't noticed. With the light from the windows inside, they saw the peeling paint clearly. "What does this mean?"

"Search and rescue marker." Esposito said darkly. "They put them on rooms that have already been searched... I'm sorry, Kid."

Alexis throat worked. "The marks say they found a body."

Esposito nodded. "Yup."

Alexis slumped. "She was all alone."

There was a hissing sound, and the smell of smoke and fuel came soon after. Alexis ran to the window and looked down at the street. There were people dressed in fireman jackets and gas masks... But they weren't carrying hoses or extinguishers. They were carrying flamethrowers.

But that wasn't what Alexis noticed.

It was the huge stack of body bags that they were torching, methodically setting them all ablaze.

_Grandma is somewhere in that pile._  Alexis wanted to weep, but she needed to keep her eyes clear. Alexis was still staring, when Esposito grabbed her and threw them both to the ground. An instant later, the windows smashed in a hail of gunfire.

"They saw us!" Esposito hissed. "They'll be watching the doors! We need another exit!"

Alexis chewed her lip. "Through the ground floor windows, there's a ventilation shaft in the alley, leads down to the subway tunnel. My dad put it in one of the Nikki Heat books when Gram moved in here."

Esposito considered it as they crawled back to the hallway. "Trains have all been shut down. Electric is out... Should be safe enough. But that alley is going to be one hell of a blind spot. How far from the window to the ventilation shaft?"

"Ten or twelve feet. But we'll have to get the cover up."

They made it back to the stairwell, and looked down. Fire was gathering, pooling at the ground floor. "They're not just burning the bodies. They're burning  _everything_!" Esposito hissed. "We'll have to be quick!"

* * *

"I must admit, as depressing as the view can be, I'm glad to have natural light back in the 12th. I missed having the windows."

"Me too. But speaking of the view, we have a problem." Castle declared, and Beckett came over to join him at the window. "See that guy with the red ink on his jacket?"

"Gang sign." Beckett observed. "What about him? Looks like he's just asking those people for food."

"He is. And in twelve minutes, he's going to be coming around the corner, offering it back to them when they're sitting on that corner 'just asking for food' themselves. They've been handing that bottle of water and granola bar back and forth for the last hour."

Beckett's face hardened. "They're doing recon on the corner."

"They're taking notes on who's coming and going, now that we've opened up the quarantine, and whatever fortifications they can see."

Kate swore under her breath. "There's another attack coming."

* * *

Esposito and Alexis came out of the tunnel at a subway station. He checked the station name. "We are... near the Museum. Not bad. We skipped more than a few streets; but we're a little further to the north than I'd like."

Alexis climbed up onto the station platform and went to the vending machines. "They're empty. Smashed out." She looked up the stairs. "The security gates have been forced. What are the odds they've moved on?"

"Could have been looking for food." Esposito nodded. "Or come to that, they could have been looking for a safer way through the city. As risky as the tunnels are, it's got to be safer than the streets. We used the tunnels for the... same..."

Esposito looked at Alexis. She looked back. They both had the thought at the same moment.

"They've made us!" Someone shouted and suddenly there was a war on, with people boiling out of hiding places all over the place.

"Go!Go!Go!" Esposito yelled, and they took off running up the steps to street level, with half a dozen Raiders on their heels.

Alexis hit the street first and scanned about. The nearest building was the Museum. It was their only option for cover. Esposito apparently agreed, pulling her along, his gun barking fire back at their pursuers.

The front doors were chained, but there were other ways in. Alexis found a smaller, regular sized door that had been forced and ran inside. The instant Esposito followed her, they both threw themselves against it, trying to keep their pursuers out.

The half dozen people rammed the other side of the door, and managed to get it a few inches open for a moment, and then the wrestling match began. Esposito put his gun against the door and put two shots through the wood. Whoever was on the other side scattered immediately, and Alexis found a chair to ram against the doorknob.

They both took a moment to breathe.

"Is this what life is going to be like from now on?" Alexis groaned.

* * *

The Museum was wrecked. Every exhibit ripped up, every glass case smashed. "Ohh, it's a good thing dad isn't here." Alexis snarled under her breath. "He loves the Museum. He'd mourn this place more than he would half the people out there."

"As a cop, I gotta say, I hate vandalism." Esposito shook his head. "I understand theft, I understand revenge... I don't get vandalism. Why just go out and destroy things?"

Alexis sighed. "Because it's the only thing left that you can do. Heaven knows I wish I had something to strangle this week."

The two of them moved through the building for a moment. The elevators were all locked open, the stairs were barricaded. Someone was taking refuge up on the second floor. "We can't stay long."

"Agreed. Let's find a way out of-"

SMASH!

"They found a way in!" Alexis hissed.

Esposito caught movement out of the corner of his eye, and grabbed her, skidding them both across the tile floor to the stairwell, where they took cover, just as a bullet whistled past his ear.

"Listen!" Esposito called across. "We both know that bullets are hard to come by; and I don't know you, but I'll bet your lives that I'm a better shot."

Beat.

"Bullets are hard to find, but food is harder." A voice called back coldly. "There's four of us, and two of you. Sure you wanna roll the dice? Because if you're a better shot, it just means there's less mouths to feed."

"You willing to risk being one of them?" Esposito dared.

"Are  _you_?"

Esposito checked his ammo. "Four of them? Long shot." He said under his breath to his new partner. "If they lasted this long outside, they won't spook and run."

Alexis chewed her lip and reached into her bag. She pulled out a water bottle, and unscrewed the cap. "Fight or flight. Your call, but either way, get ready."

Esposito nodded.

Alexis threw the water bottle. It arced high, visible to everyone on both sides, and when it splashed down hard on the floor, water flowing out. Someone screamed, as though Alexis had just thrown a newborn baby.

"Get it! Get it!" A voice hissed, and the shooting started. Someone on the other side started giving covering fire, and Esposito pushed Alexis away from the bullets, putting himself in front of her. She didn't look back, but heard his gun bark twice, and someone fell to the floor behind her.

She caught movement, and tried to change course. "Esposito! One here!" She called, and dove in the opposite direction, trying to find cover. A hand caught her hair and Alexis felt her scalp wrench with a cry. She came up with her pepper spray, and tried to hit him with it, but he moved faster. There was the sound of metal sliding on metal, and fire raced up Alexis' arm. Her assailant had a collapsible baton, with a weighted end. She was lucky he hadn't shattered her bones.

Esposito sailed in and freed her, shoving Alexis away. She ran, and got three steps before tripping on something.

Alexis skidded across the marble floor on her knees, and slid into a dead body, where she found an unexpected prize.

A rapier. The sword was old, but polished and sharpened enough to gleam. What was once an exhibit from the age of pirates was now a salvaged weapon, clutched in the hand of a dead woman. The sword was already stained with blood, but it hadn't saved her from a bullet.

Alexis pried the sword from her fingers. "I'm sorry, whoever you are; but I need this more than you do."

* * *

Esposito's gun had clicked empty, and he was surrounded. The man with the rifle was reloading, and the three men with hand weapons were closing in. Clubs, crowbars, axes... The collapsible baton was a police weapon. Esposito knew they'd flay him open...

And then Alexis strode down the corridor behind them. "Drop the weapons, and walk away. You can even keep the water bottle."

The one with the crowbar turned to face the young redhead, and slashed at her face.

Schwing!

Quick as a rattlesnake, Alexis brought up the sword and blocked the attack.

For a split second, it was harder to tell who was more surprised. Esposito, or the gang.

The other two men with clubs forgot about Esposito instantly, and turned on Alexis. Her strikes were quick and efficient. Without a wasted movement, she had blocked both attacks, swept one crowbar away, and opened a neat slice in the nearest thug's face, tracing his cheekbone in blood.

The man with the gun swore and fumbled, searching his many bags of salvage for another ammo clip. Esposito lurched upright and promptly put him in a devious sleeper hold.

Alexis swept the sword back up again, taking a finger with it. Her attacker howled and ran for it, the other backing away quickly; hands up in surrender.

Alexis did the math in her head. There was one she'd lost track of...

She caught the movement out of the corner of her eye, and spun, bringing the sword up on sheer reflex...

Esposito released his victim, who slumped to the ground, out cold. Esposito picked up his weapon, and scanned for Alexis. The girl was standing, sword extended, and one of their attackers was on the end of it, impaled through the chest, mid-lunge.

For a frozen moment, nobody moved.

And then Alexis pulled the sword back, and let the body drop.

"She got Alex!" Someone shouted as their attackers ran away. They let them go.

Esposito watched her reactions carefully. Her eyes were wide, and her face was ashen. Her breath was coming in quick, short gasps... But she was trying to slow her breathing. Almost automatically, the sword flicked, up and then down again, in a perfect fencing salute. "Detective, we have to get out of here!"

"Yes. We do." Esposito agreed.

Alexis licked her lips. "Um... the back door is where they were gathered, and the front door is where they've built their barricades... Maybe, um... the windows? No! The fire escape! Elevated position, some cover."

Esposito was impressed. She was already preparing escape routes, figuring out possible alternatives, and dismissing options that wouldn't work.  _A lot of people would have been trapped in brain-lock. This girl was cool enough under fire to keep thinking. Now test her recall. See if her memory works under stress._  "Where's the Medieval Exhibit in here?"

Alexis jumped, startled by the shift. "What?"

"You got that sword from one of the exhibits. You think it's worth looking for more?"

Alexis struggled to think. "No. Everything we might be able to use is on the upper floors. I got this from someone who'd already stolen it and didn't get far. Um... The upstairs level is probably more fortified. If there are people up there, they'll be coming. Best bet is to run while we still can."

Esposito was pleased, but not letting his expression show. "I agree."

* * *

When they came down the fire escape, they made it four feet before half a dozen more jumped them. They all wore the same colors, and Alexis recognized gang graffiti, though she didn't know for sure which gang it was.

Esposito didn't even hesitate. He threw himself into the middle of them, fists and feet and elbows flashing back and forth, faster than she could follow them. The detective that had always given her such an easy grin, and had relaxed around her dad's couch for two weeks was suddenly a human pile-diver, completely demolishing six crazed survivors in less time than it took her to recognize what she was seeing.

_That's not the way a cop fights..._

Alexis was staring, with her jaw hanging open, when the hissing sound of fire became audible. Flamethrowers.

"They found us?!" Alexis blurted in disbelief.

"Impossible." Esposito hissed, dragging the girl behind cover. "There's no way they got here on foot without taking the tunnels..." He looked darkly at her. "There's more of them than we thought. The Factions are all over the place."

Four men with flamethrowers and fireman gear in front of them, cutting off their escape. Six men with rifles and bandannas behind, boiling out of the museum. Two factions, and Esposito and Alexis trapped between them with three bullets and a chipped antique sword.

"Well." Alexis said softly. "What now?"

He didn't have an answer. They were dead.

"Heads up!" A voice called. They both looked up, and at the top of a fire escape, there was a figure in a full face gas mask and gloves. The figure tossed something down to the ground. The instant it hit, it unfolded into, of all things, a mounted gun turret.

"MOVE!" Esposito yelled, pulling Alexis out of the way, just as the turret opened up, spraying gunfire toward the men with flamethrowers.

Alexis hugged the wall and saw a door. It was a big thick basement door, down below street level. There were no windows on either side, and the door was padlocked.

The figure slid down the fire escape swiftly and tossed a handgun to Esposito. The figure had a rifle, and both fighters started giving Alexis cover. The young woman dove for the padlock and pulled one of her hairpins out swiftly; picking the lock.

"Hurry, Alexis!" Esposito hissed.

"Patience is a virtue, Detective." Alexis grit her teeth and tried to focus on the lock.

There was a whoosh of flame, and the automatic turret exploded like a firecracker.

"So is breathing!" The masked figure shouted back.

Esposito reached into his bag and pulled out something that looked a lot like a silver baseball. He pushed a button and it glowed bright green, before he tossed the thing out into the street. Focused on the padlock, Alexis almost didn't notice, but the ball was rolling... and it was guided. It was turning left and right to get around cover...

Something clicked and Alexis called. "Got it!"

The strange device suddenly exploded in a burst of brilliant white light and thick, sticky smoke. The Firemen all grabbed at their eyes and ears, as Alexis was hustled into the basement.

"They're going!" The mysterious stranger said from the door. "The Gangs are chasing the Firetruck guys."

"Good." Esposito coughed. "Kid, you hurt?"

"My jacket is a bit singed, but I'm okay." Alexis was still getting her breath back. "What was that thing you had?"

"Me? What about you? Where did you learn to pick your way through a padlocked door?"

Their masked ally with the turret gun rose and took off her gas mask. "I taught her." Hayley Shipton said with a grin. "Her father thought it would help with PI business. Or he would have, if we'd told him."

"Oh, why am I not surprised you're still alive?" Esposito said with a grin. "I thought I recognized that ass, but I was otherwise distracted at the-" He broke off mid-flirt when he saw the watch on her wrist. "Shipton? You?" Espo was stunned.

"Surprise." She grinned, looking to Alexis. "I knew you'd remember. You thought I was going too far, getting you to learn lock-picking while I played rock music loud enough to rattle the windows; but it just payed off, didn't it?"

"Hayley, what the hell is going on?" Alexis demanded.

"Alexis? Did you just use the word 'hell' as an expletive? I'm impressed. The last few weeks have really broadened you, haven't they?" Hayley smiled like it was just another day. "Glad to see you safe, Esposito. I mean, I knew Alexis would figure it out, but I had no idea that you were-"

"One of us?" Esposito said coolly. "It's about damn time someone got around to debriefing me. I sent ISAC the alert over a week ago!"

"Politics is politics, I guess. I wasn't activated until yesterday."

"Me neither. Which means neither of us were deployed with the First Wave, which means it's as bad as it sounds." Esposito nodded grimly. "Have you heard anything from off the island in the last five days?"

"EXCUSE ME!" Alexis put herself between them. "You're both people that I greatly admired for their confidence and talent. Would one of you mind sharing with the rest of the class? Because that turret that Hayley had wasn't something a PI can buy on the market, or my dad would have six of them. And that grenade thing that Detective Esposito had wasn't NYPD issue, or even the military. That was some sci-fi Juju, and I want to know what's going on!"

Both of them looked at her, and their faces softened.

"She's right." Hayley said quietly. "We should tell her."

"She's not cleared."

"So what? If we're activated, you know it doesn't matter any more." Hayley countered. "Look, this isn't really the time for this, but... I've had my eye on this one. She's good. In fact, I wanted to recruit her."

"Alexis? She's not a soldier."

"Neither am I. Only a third of the Division is a straight up combatant." Hayley wasn't concerned. "Besides, she ain't a greenie. Nobody alive in New York is soft any more. If she isn't curled in a ball sobbing, she's passed the first initiation test. Survivors survive."

Alexis still didn't know what they were talking about, but some of the pieces suddenly fit together. "Hayley... You've been sort of... training me, haven't you?"

Hayley nodded without taking her eyes of Esposito. "Yup. She's got the kind of face that can talk its way into any group. That's a rarer gift than anything you could do with a rifle." She looked hard at Esposito. "And we both know that if we're going to finish the mission, we're going to need that particular skill."

"What Mission?" Alexis pounced. Esposito was looking at her with a look that she'd seen on her father's face a hundred times. A look that said: ' _she's a little baby girl, why is she in the middle of this?_ ' and her face hardened. "I can handle it."

Esposito let out a breath hard. "Well... Out of respect to my history with your father, I vowed I'd never involve anyone he knew; and you in particular. But Hayley's right. It doesn't matter any more." He held out a hand to Alexis. "Kid, I will tell you everything, but I also have to tell Captain Beckett, if she's alive. We're less than three blocks from the 12th. Can you wait that long?"

If Kate was alive, her father was almost certainly with her, and Alexis nodded. "For that, and that alone, I believe I can wait, yes."

* * *

They started walking again. The fighting had moved down the street, and the hungry refugees were starting to poke their heads back out, like frightened prey animals once the predators had passed.

"Your radio still working?" Esposito asked.

"Yeah, but I couldn't bring it with me when I had to abandon my safe house." Hayley nodded. "Last I heard, there were suspected cases in Newark, Chicago and Des Moines. I had a Ham Radio in my car, and it looks like they've managed to get it contained..."

"But they've decided to leave New York to itself."

"I don't think that most jaded minds in the Division expected the wolfpacks to form this fast." Hayley nodded. "Javi, listen... I was only just activated. I'm not your handler. I'm your Fireteam. Which... I guess, makes you my boss, for the moment."

Espo snorted. "I figured, otherwise I'd be hitting on you right now."

"And I'd be slapping your unfortunately attractive face right about..." She checked her watch with a smirk. "...now." They approached the corner and she moved ahead a little quicker, to do a quick scan of the next street. "Clear!"

They moved up. Alexis hadn't even noticed it at first, but she had started moving like Esposito. She knew exactly where the nearest cover was, and how thick it was, and if it would protect her from bullets, or fire... She broke off the thought, and noticed Hayley looking at her. Her suddenly mysterious friend had seen her sizing up the street like a pro.

"You said that Alexis wasn't cut out for it." Hayley observed to Esposito. "But we need a complete Team. We're the Sleepers, which means our Support won't be here until we make a place for them. The First Wave obviously didn't succeed. Who did you have in mind?"

"Give you two guesses." Alexis observed dryly. "And if you need more than one, I get your boots."

Hayley smirked. "What is it with the men of the 12th worshiping at the Shrine of Katherine Beckett?"

"Women too." Alexis chimed in. "Besides, I'm the wrong one to ask. She  _is_  my Stepmother now."

"Beckett's impressive, I agree." Hayley allowed. "But she can't let anything go. When we come in, it's because it's time to make a Hail Mary play. Beckett got bounced from the AG's Office because she was way too black and white to work at that level. She'd never accept losses."

"How do you know about that?" Esposito was intrigued.

"When Beckett was offered the Captain's Exam, she also got offered a chance to run for Senate... And you submitted a recruitment report. I was the nearest agent, and I was asked to double-check your work."

"That's why you showed up in our lives suddenly?" Alexis grinned.

"No, but it's why I stuck around. I was a Sleeper. I made my living, and waited for the call. It was a coincidence that we met, but it turned out to be a lucky one. Beckett pushes too hard on the wrong fights. She  _wins_  those fights, but she doesn't notice the cost to herself."

"I think that's what Esposito likes about her." Alexis offered.

"Sure, but ask any CDC agent: The most important person to keep healthy is the doctor." Hayley countered. "Beckett will go to war over one person, but she won't see the whole board. Makes her a good cop, and an even better person to have on your side, but she can't accept the hard losses."

"You think I can?" Alexis put in.

"I think you've never had to make a call like that before in your life." Hayley said. "Beckett has. You're trainable. She's got too many bad habits."

"Bad habits? Like saving lives?"

Hayley shrugged. "You wanna help people? Okay. Where do you want to start?"

Alexis looked around. She had walked these streets a thousand times. But now they were clogged with garbage, chalk outlines, piles of bodies and human waste, eight feet deep. There were rats crawling over everything. There were three people off to the side, wrestling madly over a tin of sardines, and dozens of others wearing scarves over their mouths, holding out their hands beseechingly for anything, water, food, aspirin... "I take your point." Alexis sighed sadly. "It's hopeless, isn't it?"

Hayley rolled her eyes. "Going to have to work on that confidence." She sent a glance at Esposito and pulled a small box out of her many pockets, holding it out to Alexis. "Here. Think you can put these in?"

Alexis opened the box. "Contact lenses?"

Esposito whirled like he'd been shot. "Whoa-whoa-whoa! No!No!No!"

Hayley looked him square in the eye. "Give me one reason why not, and don't mention her father. This kid's one string is that she's more worried about her dad than she is about herself. What if Castle is dead? What if we keep her in the dark when we needed her, and it turns out it was for no reason?"

They heard gunfire.

"Is that coming from the 12th?" Alexis demanded.

"I do believe it is." Hayley nodded, drawing her gun. "Put your contacts in, and let's do this."

Esposito swore and pulled out his backup handgun again, offering it to Alexis. "Decide fast!"

Alexis took the gun with gravity. The two Agents ran for the street, and she let them get ahead of her... While she put the contact lenses in. She had no idea what they were for, but...

Her vision lit up. There was a whole new overlay on the world. She could see precise locations on her friends, right down to their postures. She could see outlines of the buildings, even through the snow. She could see ice drawn on the road, and warning markers on the infected bodies.

And then Esposito did something around the corner, and her gaze lit up with a strange pulse that left behind the shapes of people drawn in red on the next street. People who were grabbing cover...

_Enemies._  Alexis thought.  _I have enemies. They're attacking my father_.

She gripped the gun. It felt cold and ugly and terrible in her hand. She crept around the corner, being very small, and got a look at the battlefield. The 12th had apparently built barricades. She saw blood and bullet-holes on them. Whatever policemen had been outside during the quarantine had held their posts to the end.

The two Agents were moving back and forth between cover like a well oiled machine. They had each other's backs, even without looking at each other. They always knew where the other was, and when one moved, the other fired, keeping the enemies at bay. With her new eyes, Alexis started to see the battlefield differently. The 12th still had defenders, but they were pinned at the doors.

But now Hayley and Javier were flanking them, driving them closer together. Alexis saw Hayley dive behind a barricade and toss one of Javier's magic grenades. It rolled back and forth between cover, and Alexis tracked it with her new eyes. Her Overlay showed her what the grenade was armed with. It was a stun grenade.

It exploded in the middle of the attackers, and the majority of them went rolling around on the ground.

"BECKETT!" Esposito roared. "Front Door's Clear!"

Alexis was a few meters back from the main fight, perched behind a burned out police car, and had a perfect view of the moment the doors to the 12th flew open, and half a dozen police officers came charging out, taking full advantage.

The invaders with the gang marks were scattered, the ones that weren't incapacitated were moving away from the middle of the fight, trying to circle around.

A few of them made berserker charges, two at Esposito, one at the Precinct doors. People that were too pumped up on hunger and adrenaline and fear to show common sense. From her vantage point, Alexis could see that one of them was about to flank Esposito. He hadn't noticed.

Alexis brought up her gun quickly without thinking. She fired. Missed. Fired again. Missed. The second bullet ricochet, close enough that the berserker noticed her and broke off his attack to lunge for her, trying not to be so surrounded. Hayley caught the movement and tried to help, when Esposito pulled her back behind some cover.

_Squeeze, don't pull._  Alexis told herself frantically. _Squeeze the trigger, don't pull_.

She fired again, and nailed him in the leg. He dropped, groaning.

_What do I do now?_  Alexis worried.  _Do I tie him up? Will he let me do that? Do I shoot him dead now, while he's down? Am I allowed to do that? Is he going to surrender? Do I have to feed a prisoner? Should I try and save his life?_

She looked back to the Precinct... and just for a second, she thought she saw her dad. Her new overlay didn't give her much, but just for a second...

And then Esposito must have pulsed again, because she suddenly saw another enemy hiding behind the door, armed with a wicked looking blade. "Dad! Look OUT!" She tried to scream...

Bang! The attacker suddenly dropped, inches away from cleaving her father in two.

Kate Beckett had stepped out of her precinct with her teeth bared and her eyes blazing. One shot. Two shots, and every attacker between the barricades and the front door suddenly dropped.

The attack was routed, with people falling back. The Battle for the 12th Precinct was fought and won.

* * *

Hayley looked at Esposito expectantly. Alexis had covered his flank and saved his life, and they both knew it.

"The Kid did alright." Esposito agreed. "But she hasn't volunteered."

"She will." Hayley nodded with certainty. "She'll want to edge her way into accepting it, but she's already in. Just wish we had more time to train her."

"Time is our enemy now." Esposito nodded. "So if she does decide to join up, and if - And I Wanna Stress The  **IF**  - I decided to sign off on recruiting her... She'd need one hell of a Mentor."

Hayley smirked.

"Don't smile. Convincing me will be hard. Convincing her father will be harder."

* * *

Kate coughed a little, into her elbow. "They'll be back." She said immediately of their attackers. "Get those barricades repaired, and start reloading!"

Castle was looking at her proudly.

She demurred a little, her color returning. "Turns out it was the flu after all."

Castle smirked. "Was there ever any doubt?"

A familiar face strode up. "Captain."

Beckett let out a breath. "Espo!" She pulled him fiercely. "Now there's a face I really needed to see."

"Sorry it took me so long to get back." Esposito reported. "Traffic was murder." He jerked a thumb over his shoulder. "I don't know what your policy is, but we've got prisoners."

Beckett smiled when her gaze went past him and settled on bright red hair. "Alexis?"

Castle spun to face his daughter, both of them seeing each other for the first time in forever.

"Alexis!" Castle let out a sob, and his weapon dropped as he ran to her.

"DAD!" Alexis powered past everyone and slammed into her father's embrace like a missile. She pulled back. "How are you not dead?"

"I was about to ask you the same thing."

"Clayton Forrester." Alexis said simply. "But what about you?"

"Barricade those doors!" Beckett barked at her people. "Rebuild those Gun-Points, right now!" She turned to Alexis. "Good to see you, Sweetie. Are you three clean?"

"We're not infected." Esposito reported. "Listen, Captain... There's no easy way to say this: I'm taking command of your Precinct."

Dead silence. Castle and Beckett turned to stone. Everyone in earshot stopped what they were doing to gawp at Esposito, and those that hadn't heard noticed the sudden halt in activity and turned to look.

"In my office, please." Beckett said with eerie politeness.

* * *

Esposito and Beckett spoke privately. Castle lead Alexis over to the stairwell, so that they could speak with each other and compare notes.

"I found Grandma." Alexis reported. "Dad, I'm sorry."

"I am too, kid. Looks like Jim Beckett didn't make it either. There was a few days when I thought Kate had it." Castle sighed, numb to it. "We had thirty people when this started. Now we've got eight."

"You should see it outside. Body bags stacked everywhere, ten people deep." Alexis sighed. "Dad, I killed a man this morning."

He hugged her tightly, so that she couldn't see his face fall in open regret. "Not like in my books, is it?"

She shook her head, face buried in his chest.

He sighed hard. "I'm sorry you had to do that. I should have been there. I'm the dad. It's my job to fight scoundrels and fiends."

"I thought that was Prince Charming's job?"

"Prince Charming doesn't deserve you." He stroked her hair a bit. "Did he give you a choice?"

"I don't... no. No he didn't."

"We weren't the ones that threw the rules away, sweetie. It isn't on us."

"I know. In my head, I know that. My heart says it's a cop out." She sniffed. "Am I... Do I look different? I don't feel different. Is that bad?"

Castle pulled back and looked at her. Her skin was a little paler, making her hair seem darker. Circles under her eyes, but that was true of everyone now. Her hair was pulled back in a tight ponytail and held down with hairpins, and her clothes didn't match, chosen purely for function. "You look... ready."

"I didn't feel it." She confessed. "The last week and a half, I've been getting my head in the right place to be a survivor. I think in a few days, I'll be able to look around the city, and not think of it the way it used to be. I hope that I can say the same thing about the lady in the mirror too." She pressed her face into his shoulder a little harder. "But right now, I'm content to feel like I'm six years old again."

Castle chuckled and pulled her in tightly. "I got caught up in a few firefights over the years. You know it's about to hit the fan when Kate hands me her backup piece. She was in danger. I aimed for his head, and missed completely. Got him in the leg."

Alexis snorted. "I used a sword."

Castle stroked her hair. "That's my girl."

"Don't you believe a word of it." A voice chimed in.

They both turned, to see Hayley come over. "I don't mean to intrude, but I couldn't let that pass. Mister Castle, your kid was more ready for this than half the emergency services out there."

Castle looked to his daughter with pride. "I know it."

"A few years ago, she was abducted." Hayley observed. "I took the liberty of looking into the police reports for that case. It sounds like Alexis had been trained in what to do when taken prisoner."

"Storm Search." Alexis explained. "Dad's third biggest seller before Nikki Heat. A wealthy teenage socialite gets taken prisoner, and Derrick Storm has to find her." She smiled impishly. "I spent a few days locked in my room while dad figured out how to rescue me."

"And that's just one book." Hayley pressed. "She had most of the know-how and a lot of the skills she needed already. A lifetime of laser tag games, fencing matches, and following  _you_  around like a puppy has given her the accuracy of a gunfighter, the reflexes of a knife-fighter and the brain of a valedictorian and forensic expert. I checked her college transcripts a few months ago. She's scored off the charts for the kind of keywords that most intelligence services look for. She's not trained the way I was, but working as your proof reader through every bestseller, and then as your apprentice P.I.? She learned plenty of investigative tricks. She interned as an M.E. with the 12th, under Doctor Parish. And then there's the stuff I taught her, just to see if she could learn it..."

"Wait a second, what are you saying?" Castle tried to interrupt.

"Why were you looking at my college transcripts?" Alexis added.

"AND, most important of all, when the killing started, she didn't freeze." Hayley said over him. "Seriously, Rick; that's the most important part. We can train and test and weigh people up, but there's just no way to know who's going to panic in a firefight. Alexis could have spooked and flattened herself against the ground until it was over, she could have run away and left me and Esposito to die, she could have panicked completely and just frozen up like a deer in headlights. But she kept her cool, and her brain kept working."

Alexis put herself into the conversation. "Hayley, what are you trying to recruit me for?"

At that moment, the door to The Captain's office opened, and Beckett and Esposito both came out.

* * *

"Alright people, listen up." Beckett called to the room. The Bullpen wasn't nearly as crowded as it once was, but those that stayed were quick to obey. "Detective Esposito is going to tell us what's going on. Give him your full attention please." Her tone was polite, but Castle had known her long enough to see a set to her jaw. She was furious about something.

Esposito looked each person in the eye, until he was sure he had their complete focus. He had worked at the 12th for years, and he knew all their names.

"Here it is." He said powerfully. "In 2001, the Government began a series of war games to test our response times to a variety of threats. We discovered that we were shockingly vulnerable. All public services, when under sustained pressure, would last less than a week. By now, everyone realizes that, I'm sure."

There was a rumble of agreement to that.

"In response to this, the President signed Directive 51. An Executive Order that decreed what to do in the event of a massive attack, resulting in extraordinary loss of life. In the event of a threat to the entire United States, or the world as a whole, Emergency Powers would be activated, which immediately suspended all separation of powers. What this means, is that the Executive Branch of the government takes direct command at every level. In that event, the Strategic Homeland Division is Activated. An elite team that is given authority to carry out whatever operations are needed to make sure that civilization keeps spinning on."

"Never heard of it." Castle put in.

"Good." Hayley put in. "Because the whole point of The Division is that you only call us when  _everyone's_  given up and you've got nobody else you can call. Division Agents are scattered across the country. We're trained, we're tested, and we're equipped. Our mandate was to go about our lives just like every other person, and when the order came, to save whatever was left when every other agency in the world had failed."

"As you've probably guessed by now, Shipton and I are Division." Esposito declared. "I was activated this morning. My Orders are to do whatever I have to in order to restore order and City Services; and prevent an Extinction Level Event. I am empowered by the Presidential Order to use whatever means I see fit." To make his point, he went over to the wall with one of Alexis' maps, and unrolled it, putting it up on the wall. It should have been the whiteboard, but he wasn't about to disturb the memorials. "Here's the most up to date data we have."

"What's your first move?" Beckett asked, eyes blazing at him.

"To take a staging area." Esposito strode over to a map. "There are several sections of the city that we just don't have any eyes on. For all the authority I have, I can't retake the whole city alone. The good news is that I don't have to." He gestured, handing over the briefing. "Shipton."

Hayley stepped to the map and took over. "We all know there's a Dark Zone where we're blind from The Flatiron District to Times Square, and total anarchy everywhere else. We're leaving it alone until we can get backup. Our best bet to get the rest of The Division in? The Hudson. I've had a piece of the Hudson Docks under surveillance, across from Chelsea Park. That's our first objective. Second objective is to establish an operating base. The 12th is great, but we all know it's not big enough to run logistics and Ops for the entire Island."

"Where did you have in mind?"

"First Priority is the Beachhead." She tapped the map. "This section of Hudson Docks is perfect for what we need, but I've been watching it for the last week, and it's currently overrun by Raiders and gangs that have been picking apart the cargo ships for supplies." Hayley reported.

"Guys, we all know Espo." Beckett put in. "Obviously, not as well as we thought, but well enough to know that he's someone you can count on."

"Then where has he been all week?" Someone groused, but none of them saw who.

Beckett answered anyway. "He's been outside Quarantine, and alive. Not a lot of people can say the same thing. We're all taken aback by this, and me more than most. But whatever else it means, the most important thing is that there's still someone fighting to save the city. Someone with training, and skill and resources and legal authority. These are all things that we've been without for a week. I don't know who 'The Division' is exactly, but if they're the only ones willing to send reinforcements, then they're the best we've got."

"The best  _anyone's_  got." Esposito put in.

"The best of what's left, anyway." Beckett put in, just loud enough for Alexis to hear it, but nobody else. There was a hard tension building between Beckett and Esposito, and Alexis wasn't sure why.

"First step is recon." Esposito ordered. "I can teach you how to avoid infection. Those of you with badges, keep them hidden and get yourselves some civilian clothes. I want rotating surveillance of the Chelsea Piers area, and some idea of who's there. Run the faces through the database. Everyone alive is a danger now, but even before all this, the city had its predators. A look at the files will tell us which ones are most likely the ringleaders-"

Beckett held up a hand. "Hang on, James Bond. We don't have our databases. The backups are still there, but we're shut down. Can't even run the  _lights_ , let alone the computers."

Esposito glanced at Hayley and gave his former Captain a nod. "All right. First priority: Get the power back on. Let me check your generators."

Hayley sidled up to Alexis. "While he's doing that, let's see what you've got, Rookie."

* * *

"Are you okay?"

In the break room, Beckett was trying to work a camp stove with a packet of instant coffee. "Not yet." She groused. "Castle... He didn't tell us."

"There are any number of things we didn't tell him over the years."

"That's different. That was personal stuff that we kept to ourselves. How many lives could he have saved if he'd come in and told us everything on Day Zero?"

"I don't know, and neither do you." Castle reminded her.

"The reason we don't know? Is because his masters told him to hide out for a week and let everyone die."

"I've written this twist before, love. When a character suddenly becomes something totally unlike what he's been in the book so far? The way to do that right is to make it seem inevitable when you re-read it. Makes the reader surprised without feeling betrayed."

Kate put the cup down hard. "I feel betrayed. Don't you?"

"Look at his life, Kate." Castle said reasonably. "No close friends but us and Ryan. No romantic connections other than Lanie. No political or social causes that expect him to be around. He never talks about his past beyond the fact that he was in the service. He never volunteers anything about himself, but he's got a lot of military skills and connections, and he's always the first to volunteer for the most dangerous parts of any assignment. Kate... I tried to write someone like him into Nikki Heat, and I couldn't, for the life of me, figure out why he wasn't some secret agent in disguise." He looked at her hard. "But why don't we talk about what this is really about?"

"Meaning?"

"Espos's got things he hasn't told you, and suddenly it's in your face." Castle spelled out. "That's happened before."

Beckett almost responded to that. She was silent a moment before blowing right past it. "So you're okay with this?"

"More than you are, it seems."

She almost smirked. "You remember you said that when you see Alexis next."

"Meaning?"

"She and Hayley have had something of a cool-aunt/mentor relationship the last year or so. I know for a fact your kid's been learning tips and tricks from her..." Beckett pointed out.

"Oh come on, that was just for fun." Castle shook his head.

"And what about now? Are we still having fun?" She challenged. "Alexis and Espo have been locked away together for a week. Where's Hayley and Alexis right now?"

Castle froze, suddenly realizing they weren't in sight.

* * *

In the Precinct firing range, the lights were off, like everywhere else. But there was a torch shining on the target and that was enough for Hayley to consider it a fair test.

Alexis fired off three rounds at time, and after each three, Hayley would go and get the paper, unable to get a proper look at it in the dark.

"Not bad." Hayley took down the paper target. "Better than the first grouping."

"Silencer threw me off a bit last time." Alexis nodded, carefully pointing the gun away from herself.

"You'll be using them more often than not out there." Hayley told her. "Do you wear contacts or anything?"

"No. Well, not until half an hour ago."

"Good. Where did you learn how to shoot?" Hayley asked, bringing it over for her to see herself.

"Laser Tag. Then Dete-  _Agent_  Esposito." Alexis offered. "Once I learned how to handle the recoil..." She broke off instantly.

Hayley turned to look. Richard Castle had just walked in. His gaze was pure iron. "I told Beckett not to read anything into it." He said calmly. Too calmly. "I told her, and myself, that you used to teach her things back in the old days for fun."

"The old days? You mean two weeks ago?" Hayley kept smiling, but Alexis had seen her make that face even as she targeted the right spots to swing for in a punch-up.

"You're training her." Castle said flatly, and he was right.

"You don't want her knowing how to defend herself?"

"I'm all for my daughter being taught how to survive, but you're not teaching her survival. You're training her for your Division."

Beckett came into the room, very aware of the rising tension. Alexis was not looking her father in the eye, even as he came over and pointedly took the gun out of her hands.

Hayley took a breath. "Castle, I unders-"

"You want my daughter on the front lines?!" Castle said dangerously.

"Look, this isn't the time." Beckett put herself between them. "We wait for the rest of your Fireteam, and-"

"They're dead." Hayley said simply.

The mood in the air changed dramatically.

"Dead?"

"We got jumped by those freaks with the flamethrowers four days ago. I've been living in an overturned dumpster ever since. When the Activation signal came, I was cooling my heels in a Speakeasy on the corner of Chelsea Park and FDR."

"What were you doing on FDR?"

"Watching Chelsea Piers. I figured if reinforcements were coming, they'd have come in from the East River." Hayley shrugged like it should be obvious.

The lights suddenly came on. Beckett and Castle actually ducked away from them for a moment. It was the first time the lights had been on in an eternity. "Esposito got the generators working."

Hayley nodded and blew out the candles. "Next step is to contact our Division. They'll send in their forces, once we get a place secure enough for them to land."

"Reinforcements. Because the team you were  _meant_  to have is all dead. This is the business you want my  _daughter_  in?" Castle said dangerously. "No. Not a chance!"

"Dad-" Alexis started to say.

"Alexis is over eighteen." Hayley spoke faster. "It's her choice. If she doesn't want to, I won't force her."

"Really?  _Agent_  Shipton? Because so far, your Division has conscripted everyone alive that I know!" Castle attacked.

"Beckett's a city employee. She volunteered to work for us in times of trouble the moment she put on that badge." Hayley fired back, meeting him head on. "Alexis is a civilian. If she-"

Beckett slipped quietly over to Alexis, who was looking back and forth between them like she was watching her parents having a custody battle. "Sweetie, this fight is kinda my fault, so tell me now: Who's side are we on?"

"I volunteered for training." Alexis whispered back. "Hayley's saved my life twice, dad's more than once. Yours too, and she's helped both of us with cases, conspiracies... I owe her enough that I want to help her get her backup into the city."

Beckett nodded at that, and stepped in between the two combatants. "Babe, go to my office. Alexis, go with him. Fight it out there, without me or Hayley."

"There's nothing to fight about!" Castle insisted dismissively. "There's a war going on outside, and I get that we can't just go into hiding, but my daughter is holding a gun, and you can't expect me to sit back and watch when-"

"I SAT BACK AND WATCHED FOR EIGHT YEARS!" Alexis nearly screamed.

Stunned silence. Sweet, gentle Alexis had just let out a roar that came from somewhere a lot darker and colder than the state of the world. It was an eruption that had been growing for a long time. For a moment, it was hard to tell who was more stunned; Hayley, Beckett, Castle... or Alexis herself.

Beckett spoke first. "Babe, go to my office." She said again to her husband. "Alexis, go with him."

Without a word, Castle turned on his heel and walked to the Captain's Office, in no particular hurry. Alexis was a pace behind him, pretending that she didn't notice every single person in the bullpen staring at them.

* * *

As soon as the door closed, Castle spun, getting the first word. "You can't let Hayley-"

"Hayley didn't draft me.  **You**  did." She interrupted.

"Ex-Cuse me?" He was stunned.

"The instant you got smitten with Beckett, I became a Cop's Daughter." Alexis snapped. "I spent my entire High School and College life with a constant low key  _dread_. And nothing I could say would have stopped you. I love Beckett. She's an amazing person, and I'm proud to be part of her family. But like it or not, you went into her world with no training and no warning. I've got both."

"It's not the same thing!"

"Damn right it's not!" She didn't let up. "You got into it because you had a crush on the hot lady cop. I'm getting into it because the  _world has ended_!"

Castle didn't have an answer to that.

"'Just a few weeks' you said." Alexis kept going. "'For book research' you said. And in the eight  _years_  that followed, you've come home with bruises, you've been taken hostage a dozen times, sometimes by  _serial killers_ , you've been shot at once every month or two... To say nothing of the time you vanished without a trace!" She pointed out at the bullpen. "Beckett got shot. She nearly died, and you walked around like a zombie for six months, and the second she snapped her fingers you went running back for more! And it's not just love, because you're married now! She'll come home to you every night, whether you're there getting shot at or not." She took a breath. "But I swallow it. I swallowed it every single time your phone rang, because I love you, and I trust you, and I know it's where you want to be." She spread her hands wide. "Nowhere's safe. Not any more. But I'm more ready than you were when you started, because like it or not,  _this_  is the family business now! Rick Castle, Associate Cop and PI, Kate Beckett, the 12th's secret weapon, and Alexis makes three."

"Please, for the love of Edgar Allen Poe, don't tell me that you're trying to follow in my footsteps!"

"This isn't teen rebellion, dad! We've all got skin in the game now! My whole life you've been telling me that I can do anything. If you meant 'anything except grow up' then you should have said so."

"That's not even close to rational, and you know it!" He was right in her face now. "I'm trying to keep you alive and safe, and you're  _fighting_  me on it?"

"Dad, tell me where 'safe' is. Show me on the map, where to find 'safe' and I'll go there!" She fired back.

"You have no idea what you're signing up for!'

"Dad, I have a better idea of what's outside this building than you do!" She retorted. "How much do you know about what's been going on outside in the last ten days? I've been on three different radios charting the factions on that map Esposito hung up, and I've playing tag with the wolfpack's outside all day... And I've already killed one and taken another prisoner. You've done none of these things." She let him chew on that for a moment. "It's going to be all hands on deck, and what if Hayley's right?"

"Right about what?"

"What if I  _do_  have some natural talent for the job? If she's even a quarter right about me, then I absolutely have to step up. And for reasons a lot more noble and honest than the ones you had when you started. I don't know if I'll ever be Division. But I want to be ready, just in case, and..." She hesitated for a split second before she said what she was thinking. "...And at least Hayley asked  _me_  to volunteer."

Castle looked very unhappy. "Kid, why didn't you tell me you felt this way? Eight years, and you never... okay, you did, once or twice, but... Why didn't you  _tell_  me?"

Alexis winced. "I... I liked you more when you were with Beckett. You went whole  _years_ without taking a stripper to the Hamptons, you lasted almost fourteen months without getting arrested. A new personal best. You wrote a few bestsellers in there too."

Castle snorted, but she could see the tiny smile, and she knew they'd be okay.

"Alexis, the first Rule of Parenting, and I mean  **The Law** , carved in stone by the right hand of God; is to protect your babies." He said seriously. "I know you're all grown up, and you're smart and you're brave... But you're still my kid, and Rule Number One is written on the inside of my eyelids."

"Especially after mom took off." Alexis observed.

"Especially then."

"I've got you, I had gran, I have Beckett, I have Hayley, and Esposito... Dad, I'm surrounded by good people who want to show me how to be brave and strong and smart." She held out a hand and he took it. "I'm not signing up. But Esposito and I have kept each other alive and sane this long, and... I guess he's in my foxhole now. His backup is all on the other side of the Hudson, and he needs a team to get them back. After the last week... I saved his life. Did he tell you that? In the Museum, when I picked up that sword,  _I_  saved  _his_  life. Then he saved mine, then Hayley saved both of ours. I have to go at least as far as the first mission. I can't  _not_."

Castle stared hard at her for along moment. "Oh man. It's happened. I thought it was when you brought Pi home, but it's happening right now, right before of my eyes. You've turned into me."

She gave him a dazzling smile and hugged him tight. "Better you than... Well, anyone else I know."

He hugged her back. "Well. I guess I'm in too."

"You were in the moment Beckett was." Alexis snorted. "But as it happens, I think there's a much better way."

"What do you mean?"

"Word around the Soup Pot is that you have a marker. A favor, owed to you by Dino Scarpella?"

He froze. "Whoa. My baby girl is actually setting up to take over the whole city." A frozen moment passed, before he smiled broadly. "The worst part is that I am so freakin'  _proud_  of you!"

They both laughed, and hugged tighter.

"It's a bad business, Alexis." Castle made one last effort. No anger, no yelling. Almost a plea. "Hayley is recruiting you because the team she was meant to have has already been swallowed by the Jungle out there. No father wants his daughter to be in danger."

"Dad, a month ago that would have been reason enough." Alexis nodded. "But we're  _all_  in the Jungle now. This isn't some war on the far side of the world. This is our city. Our  _home_. More than that, it's our  _family_. Beckett, Esposito... I want to help them."

Castle had no answer to that. "Well... I figure I can't really tell you you're being reckless. You've been the responsible one in this family since your third birthday."

Silence. He hugged her tightly, as though trying to turn back the clock.

"Dad?" Alexis said quietly once they broke the hold. "What Hayley said, about how I hit all the right keywords? I already knew that... because they  _did_  try to recruit me."

"What?"

"On campus. I got approached by a man from the Government. He said he was a talent scout of sorts, for the FBI. He said they were impressed with some of my essay responses, and wanted to know if I ever thought about working in Law Enforcement. Analysis and Logistics, they said. Possible field work if I passed the physical testing."

"You're kidding." Castle was stunned. "What did you say?"

"I've read enough of your books to see spies under the bed, dad. I don't want a life where everyone's watching everyone else and nobody can remember what side they're on."

"You know that's mostly my inventing plot points for a mystery thriller, right?"

"I know. But... I wanted to do something else. Something that didn't involve... well, all of this." Alexis gestured around. "I never wanted to be a cop daughter. But that was a week ago. A lot of things can change in a week."

"A lot of things." Castle nodded grimly. "As much as I hate to admit it... I still haven't been more than five feet outside."

* * *

Beckett and Hayley were sitting quietly in the bullpen, not looking at each other or anyone else.

"Hayley..." Beckett said finally. "I haven't been as 'hands-on' with looking after Alexis as I maybe should have been. She had her head on straight long before me and her father became... anything worth involving her. But if she dies out there..."

"I know." Hayley said quietly.

"Good. Because you either come back with my stepdaughter, safe and sound, or you bring me the head of whoever hurts her, on a silver platter." Beckett said, so matter-of-factly that they could have been discussing the weather. "If you come back with neither, just keep walking. In fact,  _run_."

Hayley gave a smirk that could cut glass. "Esposito wanted it to be you instead of her."

" _Agent_  Esposito and I have a number of matters that need to be settled." Beckett bit out. "But that's not important right now. I'm NYPD. You wanna fight back extinction, that's a pretty good goal. But my job is to serve and protect the public, and uphold the law. And if you think that's small time, just remember that I only became a cop because someone didn't 'serve and protect' enough for my family."

The door to her office opened, and the Castles came out.

"Hayley." Rick said firmly. "Get back to work. I want my daughter so ready that  _you're_  taking lessons from  _her_."

Shipton smirked again. "Yessir."


	4. Day 10: Book Camp

_"I want to play black." Alexis said brightly._

_Castle turned the chess board to give his seven year old the black side of the game. "Just out of curiosity, why?"_

_"All the villains wear black in my movies." Alexis gestured over to the stack of Disney films._

_"You want to play as the bad guy?" Castle found that amusing._

_"The bad guys get all the best jokes." Alexis said primly. "And until the end, they always have more fun."_

_Castle burst out laughing. "That's my girl!" He moved the white chess piece._

_They played for a while without speaking, beyond Alexis making sure of which piece could move the way she wanted them to. "Daddy?" She asked after a while. "Why do the bad guys be bad, if they always lose in the end?"_

_"Because in real life, sweetie..." Castle admitted sadly. "Sometimes they win. And most days, it can be hard to tell who the bad guys are."_

_"Oh." Alexis screwed up her face in thought. "Like your books, right? Not bad guys, just people doing bad things."_

_"That's right. Good people can be bad, and bad people can be good." He watched her carefully. He knew his daughter was bright, but these were rather abstract concepts for a seven year old._

_"How do I know if I'm bad?" She asked finally. "In the cartoons, you know the bad guys, because they always wear black."_

_Castle smiled and patted his knee. His little daughter came over and crawled up into his lap. "There's an old story." Castle told her. "One evening an old man told his grandson about a battle that goes on inside people. He said, 'My son, the battle is between two wolves inside us all. One is Evil. It is anger, envy, greed, lies, and cruelty. Everyone has this wolf inside them.'"_

_"Even me?" Alexis said quietly._

_"Everyone." Castle confirmed. "Then he said, 'The other wolf is Good. It is joy, peace, love, hope, kindness, generosity, truth, and faith.' He told his grandson that every day, these two wolves fight inside you, day and night." He gestured at the board to make his point. "Good and Bad, always fighting. The grandson thought about it for a minute and then asked his grandfather: 'Which wolf wins?' The old man simply replied, 'The one you feed.'"_

* * *

Alexis woke up. 4am. Time for training. She went to the gym and found three or four people already there, including Beckett. Alexis found a spot with room and collected a simple jump rope. Esposito had shown her how to do speed runs with it, the way professional athletes did. She wasn't quite there yet, but she was a lot better than she had been before it all went wrong.

With the 12th now under the command of the SHD, there was an unmistakable feeling of energy building in the team. Hayley had shown them how to avoid infection, and there was now a small team of officers going out on missions with them.

* * *

"Alexis did this?" Beckett was looking over the map carefully. "Pretty comprehensive stuff."

"I taught her how to interpret the Police Codes. She's a quick study." Esposito nodded. "She seemed to handle the apocalypse better when she could put it in a spreadsheet."

"All right, where are we?" Beckett said under her breath as she studied the map. "The Cleaners are on the East Side, the Raiders to the West..."

"Most of the Raiders are... independent." Ramirez reported, coming in and adding a few more notes to the map. "Just local militias, really. A gang that takes in more people than they've ever had because they can provide food."

"They get the numbers, they get weapons, they get brave." Beckett mused. "Well, smart money says that if we can show them we're a force to be reckoned with, they'll back off. The new members get another source of protection, they'll break up."

"I hope so." Esposito agreed. "Because the alternative is that we'll never get them under control. We break one gang, they scatter, and find each other a week later?"

"Like playing whack-a-mole for the rest of our lives." Beckett agreed.

"Have you heard anything at all from other Precincts?" Ramirez asked.

"One PP went under within the first week." Esposito shook his head. "Hayley tried to raise them." He turned to Beckett. "Where would they go? They can't stay where they are, and people are always coming after their guns, their food, their gear. Where do they fall back to?"

"I know a few places." Beckett nodded slowly. "With your... permission?"

Her tone was cold, but not enough that he could call her on it. She hadn't thawed toward him, but it wasn't the time yet. He gave her a nod. "See if you can find them. Police, Fire, Ambulance... Remember, if they're dressed in fireman gear, they probably aren't firemen. The only ones still doing that have flamethrowers."

* * *

Alexis was still in training, but she went outside with Hayley during the night. Officially, it was to test her skills at going undetected. Unofficially, they were both fighting cabin fever. Alexis had locked herself away for a full week and a half already, and had no desire to do that again.

The city was dangerous, but the survivors had learned the trick of it. Alexis and Hayley had scaled fire escapes and traveled by rooftops where they could, and had found others doing the same, all of them willing to stay away.

The Gangs didn't take the rooftop routes. They roamed the streets. A deliberate challenge. The Raiders and the Cleaners in particular were moving unchallenged, daring anyone who wanted to come and fight back.

"Look closely." Hayley had whispered to Alexis, looking down at the street. "Look how they move. They swagger. They don't mind showing off that they're dangerous."

"Wolfpacks." Alexis whispered back.

"That's right." Hayley nodded. "What do you notice about the rest of the street?"

Alexis looked. "It's empty."

Hayley hefted her rifle and unhooked the scope. "Are you sure?"

Alexis put her eye to the scope and let Hayley guide her gaze. Two levels below them, a woman was huddling against the wall. A level above her, two kids hiding in their apartment, peeking out the window, almost invisible. Down at street level, someone in the dumpster.

They were all totally still, totally silent, letting the Cleaners pass by. And once they did, they waited a few minutes, and then started moving again. Including some that Alexis hadn't noticed.

It was like something out of a nature film. Prey went quiet when the predators passed.

"What you must learn?" Hayley whispered silently in her ear. "How do you have to power and strength of the wolfpack, but draw those people out of hiding at the same time?"

_How do I become their champion, instead of another gang?_  Alexis wondered to herself. "I'm going to have to fight them, aren't I?" She whispered to her teacher.

"No. I am." Hayley promised. "If you come with me is up to you."

* * *

During these jaunts, Alexis had been surprised to see some of the streetlights were still on. She wasn't sure if there was battery or solar power still on, or if someone had gotten at least a few of the mains working. An odd collection of candle light, fire barrels and and neon signs went active every night.

As the first wave of destruction and chaos ended, the survivors were starting to poke their heads out again. There was still illness, but at least there was movement. The frenzy of the riots had faded, as the city ran out of things to steal or smash, and then out of people to riot. But the people who were starting to emerge were raw, hardened from loss and getting hungrier with each passing day.

The wildfire had passed, but what came next would be harder for the survivors than anything they'd faced before.

Alexis wasn't manning the radio any more, but the Pirate Stations were the only ones left broadcasting. When he wasn't ranting or spinning his conspiracy theories, he was giving actual updates.

The 12th wasn't the only remnant of the Emergency Services trying to pull something from the ashes. The National Guard, what hadn't fled the city, had been trying to maintain order on the West Side. The Hospital Services had been the first victims of looters, but whatever doctors and nurses had survived the lynchings and riots and Contaminated Hospitals were setting up free clinics here and there.

For every story the Pirate Station gave about people trying to help, there was another that followed, of rioters attacking the clinics and Safe Zones.

The whole city was holding it's breath, just waiting to see which wolf starved first. Good or Evil.

* * *

Ramirez came back from one of her courier missions and went straight to the computers. The 12th had been able to keep their lights on and equipment running, but they only had so much time to use their machines, due to rationing.

Nevertheless, Rodriguez printed half a dozen pictures taken by their scouts and brought them to The Map.

"We're scouting almost a dozen Rikers at the Docks." She reported. "But that number is... very, extremely flexible. The fact is, we don't know how many there are. They all wear those scarves for warmth, and that means we can't really see their faces."

"They probably trade their cold weather gear to whoever's going to be outside." Beckett mused. "Without air support or surveillance tech? We have no idea what they're doing in there."

"Actually, we have a few ideas. We saw another four or five join them this morning, and they had stolen gear with them. Cutting torches, bolt cutters, hacksaws..."

"They're breaking into the containers." Esposito and Beckett and Castle all said together. The three of them traded a shy little look. Just for a split second, they were all on the same side again, just like in the old days.

"Why would they cut their way in? Surely they can just open them." Alexis asked, confused.

"Unless they can't do that on some. I don't really know how containers are sealed, but most of them don't use padlocks. Or for that matter, they may have gone through all the containers they have, and now they're taking the metal." Beckett mused. "They've got cutting torches, the docks will have repair equipment. What could they make with all that metal?"

"Plenty of barricades, plenty of fortifications, duck blinds..." Esposito shivered. "They're not just cleaning the place out, they're establishing base camp."

"The longer we wait, the more fortified they're going to be." Beckett told Esposito. "How long you plan to do recon?"

"Fortifications don't concern me that much." Esposito told her. "Because these people aren't trained soldiers. They're hard, but they're not skilled. We get past one line, and their fortifications are ours."

"Then what does concern you?" Castle asked.

"Rookie?" Esposito didn't even turn to look at Alexis, but he wanted to know if she had the answer.

Alexis chewed her lip. "Um... Weapons."

He just waited. His way of saying that she hadn't answered correctly yet.

Alexis realized. "People! You don't know how many enemies you have in there, or if they have prisoners, or how many are armed, or if they're all in the same place."

"Bullets are small, people are unpredictable." Esposito nodded. "A lot of sharp corners and hiding places in there. If we have to clear the whole place out, one block at a time... Way too easy to get ambushed. If they build defenses, then that'll protect us too. But if they've got twenty people with baseball bats..."

Alexis bit her tongue, but the first thought that came to mind was:  _You can handle them._

An instant later, she realized that was the point. "How much risk do you take to spare  _their_  lives?"

"I, for one, would like an answer to that too." Beckett put in. "What  _are_  the rules of engagement?"

"We're here to protect people." Esposito said firmly. "The Division was meant to be the last ditch effort to save humanity. But the job of a soldier is to defeat the enemy and bring his or her people home alive." He glanced at Alexis, and then at the memorial wall. "Most of the people out there aren't our enemies. They're scared, hungry, cold and desperate. If we can change any one of those things, then the list of people who are our friends can rise dramatically. But to do that, we need to take the docks." He looked to Beckett. "Your people?"

"We're police officers, not Army Rangers." Beckett told him. "But we know how to clear a room and watch for ambush and booby-traps. I just wish we had reinforcements. We're down to eight. Everyone who was outside? I haven't heard from them in days."

Esposito stared hard at the photos. "Keep watching. I want to know how many are in there."

"What if they get reinforcements?"

"They won't." Castle put in. "They're a pack of fairly strong Raiders that have found a plum spot to wait out the apocalypse. If more Raiders come, they'll probably fight each other. If they're organized enough to team up with other groups, then we don't want to fight them out, we want them on side."

"Either way, we need to know more about them." Esposito added. "Run the photos, see if there are any faces we recognize."

The meeting broke up. Beckett turned on her heel and moved away from Esposito as fast as she could while being casual.

Hayley leaned in closer to Alexis. "So, Rookie. Notice anything about Beckett?"

"She's barely speaking to Agent Esposito and she's a foot shorter." Alexis whispered back. "I guess it literally takes the end of the world to get her out of those stilettos and into some combat boots."

Hayley nodded. "How many people were in the room by the time the meeting broke up?"

Alexis blinked, looking around. "Um..."

"Bzzt. Time's up." Hayley grinned. "Let's get back to work."

* * *

Alexis could feel her perspective changing more every day. Hayley drilled her unexpectedly at all hours, asking her what was different, what was the same, what was happening outside, what were the officers talking about in the 12th, how many civilians were outside, and what were they carrying. Alexis could only answer about one in ten questions, but she found she was looking now. She never knew what Hayley would be asking, so she had to see it all.

And then there were the physical drills. The 12th had enough space they they'd mocked up some training areas. Simple rooms laid out to look like an apartment, cardboard boxes to rearrange where the windows and doors were. Alexis swept through the Training Room over and over, trying to catch Hayley before she got caught.

She always lost.

* * *

"Bang!" Hayley whispered in her ear, and Alexis jumped, feeling the Division Agent tap her hard on the back of the neck. "You're dead, rookie."

Alexis struggled not to scream. "Where the hell were you hiding? I checked the blind spot, the closet, the stairwell..."

"You checked all the places I've hidden before." Hayley finished. "This room doesn't look like it has a lot of places to hide, does it?"

Alexis shook her head.

"And yet, I always seem to find one more." She said smugly. "Now do it again. This time, use your brain."

* * *

While Alexis trained, so did a few of the 12th's Survivors. The rest spread out into the rest of the city, and in particular the docks.

The whiteboard started to fill with pictures of people who were hanging around the docks. Most of them had no record, driven to join a faction by circumstance. But some of the leaders were known to the Police.

Alexis studied the pictures, learning how to spot injuries, which ones were hungriest, which ones were left or right handed... The Contacts that Hayley had given her also overlaid with some more information, including their employment, their records, their last known address...

"The display on these contacts still thinks I'm you." She told Hayley. "The information still comes to 'Agent Shipton'."

"Unavoidable, I'm afraid. If we get a base set up properly, I can get you your own set, but for now, why not get ahead of the curve and see how they work?"

Alexis agreed, and the lessons continued.

* * *

The weather moved in unexpectedly, cutting visibility down to only a few feet. The attack on the docks was called off due to the weather. The training shifted to squad based combat, and the 12th learned how to work like Division Agents, even if they weren't equipped like them.

While Alexis learned how to think like a soldier, her father had another objective. He had tracked down as many people as he could find with connections to the Carlucci family. The list was short, and none of the confirmed survivors could be found. Castle had turned his attention to other angles.

"I'm trying to figure out what they would do." Castle explained to his wife as they kept warm during he blizzard. The generator was enough to run the equipment, not enough to keep the heaters going.

"Smart money says they'd dig in, just like we did." Beckett offered.

"Yeah, but you gotta think like these guys. The rest of us are getting used to the Law of the Jungle, but the mobs live in the Jungle every second of their lives. They won't be squeamish about taking homes, taking food, killing people... And they're used to a certain amount of luxury. The top guys, at least. Security, supply, luxury. Which would suggest some place with electricity..."

"Any conclusions?"

"There are some hotels, a few exclusive clubs..."

"The mobs ran more than a few nightclubs." Beckett put in. "They'd be equipped for mob violence, which means they'd have weapons and provisions..."

"And if they did decide to go for each other when the lights went out..." Castle thought aloud. "But there's another factor."

"What's that?"

"We dug in and waited out the more.. apocalyptic parts. The Carlucci's wouldn't wait it out. They'd strike." Castle reasoned. "Someone would have been hitting back..."

"The First Wave?" Beckett almost seemed amused. "You've shifted from Ninja's to secret armies in your head, babe. I don't know what happened to Esposito's people, but given what I've seen, I think I can guess."

"And I still can't believe that we wouldn't have heard  _something_. Even if they all died, to the last man standing, someone would have surely left something behind! A message drop, a bit of graffiti,  _something_."

"Maybe they did." She soothed. "But we haven't even begun retaking the city, Rick. There's a lot of jungle out there to tame and explore."

There was a knock on the door, and Rick rose to answer. It was Ramirez. "You said you wanted to know when the storm broke. Skies are clearing up."

Beckett squeezed his hand. "I want to go with you."

"I know, but if the storm has broken, it means the attack is back on, and Esposito's going to need you for the planning phase. Time isn't on our side any more."

"I don't suppose it ever was, really." She kissed his cheek. "Good hunting. And make sure you've got your vest on. This time of year, you can wear it under your coat."

"I will." He promised. "Check on Alexis for me? I don't want to interrupt her training, but I haven't seen much of her in the last three days..."

She read his mind and nodded. "I'll look in while you're gone, make sure she doesn't realize you're doing something dangerous."

* * *

"What exactly are you looking for?" Ramirez asked quietly.

"Footprints." Castle told her. "Of a sort. Espo and Hayley are the second wave, which means... what? Where did the first wave go?"

"Offhand, I can guess." Ramirez snorted. "The Captain told me to put you in touch with any known associates of Dino Scarpella."

"We're on our way to their last known hideouts now." Castle nodded. "But the Water Treatment Plant is right there... If I was a First Wave secret agent, I'd want to get control of that place..."

"Looks like someone did." Ramirez said grimly. There were bulletholes all over the walls at the entrance. Shells all over the ground.

Castle crept closer to the fence and pulled out a dental mirror that he'd found in the Seized Property room. he used it to peek around corners, check blind spots... There was no sign of anyone. At least, nobody alive.

"Looks like we missed it." Ramirez mused when they approached the stack of bodies. They had been piled up outside the entrance, but behind the fence.  _Out of sight from the street, but away from the interior, so they were out of the way._

But what got Castle's attention was that all the bodies were the same. At least, they were all wearing similar clothes. "Cleaners?"

"Looks like." Ramirez looked closer for a moment, before returning to watching for enemies. "Those propane tanks they're wearing, or whatever they plug those flamethrowers into... Looks like the tanks were hit. One shot, high caliber. Probably a sniper."

"So whoever hit them, it was outside the complex, but inside the fence... and they got sniped off. That's a lot of bodies for that."

"All the shell casings, it wasn't an ambush either." Ramirez agreed. "Look, Castle... All due respect to the Boss' husband and all, but the more we learn about how these guys got taken out, the more I want to be away from here."

Castle was about to turn away, when he noticed a familiar shape in one of the coats in the pile of bodies. He gingerly picked through them, until he found the dictation machine. Small, solid, digital. He checked, and was surprised to find that it still had a charge.

He put it in his pocket and quickly followed Ramirez away from the scene of carnage.

* * *

Alexis' training included solo jaunts. Usually, nothing more than taking a pair of binoculars onto a rooftop and keeping track of the street for a few hours, but Alexis knew how quickly being outside could turn deadly...

"Bang."

Alexis jumped and spun around. It wasn't Hayley. "Captain Beckett. You startled me."

"Mm. I won't tell your father I was able to do that if you won't."

"Deal."

Beckett came over and sat next to Alexis. "And when are you going to start calling me Kate? We've been  _related_  for going on a year now."

"When are you going to start calling yourself 'Captain  _Castle_ '?" Alexis shot back. "You've been married for going on a year now."

"Old habit, I guess." Beckett admitted. "For what it's worth, I use it everywhere else, but-" She shook her head. "Team Castle is a very hard club to join, huh?"

"Easier for you than anyone else, including my mom." Alexis pointed out, but without any anger.

Kate flushed. "Sorry sweetie. Still trying to get over a heavy dose of 'us-and-them' that recent events have hit me with."

"Esposito would open his wrists for you." Alexis insisted. "That was true a month ago, and it's just as true now. Do you really need to outrank him that badly?"

"No, the problem has nothing to do with that." Kate shook her head. "And anyway, that's not why I'm here. But about that, you should really vary your routes a bit, even over rooftops. The Precinct has been hit twice now, by people keeping watch on comings and goings."

Alexis nodded, suitably chastised. "You came out just to tweak my nose about that?"

"Actually, I had some business on 34th street and I wanted to know what you were looking for out here. Your father tells me you spend more time outside than he does."

"I suppose I do. And how did he talk you into that, by the way? We haven't found any of the Carlucci's."

"And we never will if we stop looking. Your father is grown man. He's friends with all of what's left of the Precinct, and if he wants to lend a hand, why shouldn't he? He's a good shot, Alexis."

"I know he is, but... Part of me worries that he's going to try and slay a few dragons before I get sent after them. He'll think of it as protecting me, but..."

"Alexis, you got promoted from daughter to Agent. He protects you, you protect him, I protect the both of you, Esposito and Hayley protect everyone. Responsibility is the only thing that rolls  _up_ hill." She gave the younger woman a look. "Now, what were you looking for, exactly?"

Alexis nodded. "I'm trying to..." She fought to find the words. "Look, there's a difference between doing good and fighting evil, right?"

"Of course."

"So... Esposito and Hayley are training me in how to fight evil. But when I was in college I spent a lot of time volunteering at soup kitchens, and retirement homes, and op shops... I can't help but wonder how those places are holding up. Are you more likely or less likely to survive civilization's collapse if you're homeless? It's not like you get that much help from the infrastructure..."

"You looking for places to start homeless shelters?" Beckett was amazed. "In all this?"

"Finding a place to stay isn't a problem. 95% of buildings in the city are available at no charge. But what about everything else?"

Beckett smiled. "Come with me."

"To 34th street?"

* * *

"This is the place..." Ramirez checked her map again. "Think they abandoned it?"

"I doubt it. Dino told me the place was set up to fight Mob Wars, from back when the Racketeers ran the whole town." Castle smirked, just a little. "Come to think of it, all the proper authorities gave up days ago, so they probably run the town  _now_."

"Lovely thought." Ramirez said grimly. "These guys are pals of yours? Because I'm still carrying the badge, y'know."

"Are you angry about my choice of friends, or worried about our reception?"

Ca-Clik!

They both spun, to find that they were surrounded. Where they had all come from, Castle had no idea, but sure enough, four men with a variety of deadly weapons had them surrounded.

Castle raised his hands. "I'm looking for-"

**BANG!**  A bullet hit him square in the chest, and he dropped.

* * *

"What is this place?" Alexis asked, delighted.

"It used to be a speakeasy, back in the day." Beckett explained. "I told my people to give the location only to people without weapons. Like you said, wolfpacks and prey. But even the prey could find places to be safe."

The large basement space had been cleverly hidden. Alexis never would have found it without Beckett. The place was now a shelter. There were almost a dozen people, half that many cots, a few large storage containers being used as tables, and people handing out supplies judiciously. One or two were being treated for injuries, and there was a radio in the corner, playing a pirate station.

There was a rolling whiteboard, just like at the 12th, full of the latest info on the city, including maps and locations. Alexis scanned it with her new eyes and quickly recorded everything. "Agent Esposito doesn't know about this place?"

"In a few days, you'll hit the Docks, and Esposito will have his people coming in. But wherever they decide to base themselves, the only way left to get around the city is on foot." Beckett explained. "Your Division Agents will need places to rest, recover, reload... If I can set up a few safe houses across the boroughs before that, then it only helps later."

"And in the meantime..."

"In the meantime, having a place like this does some good, without having to fight evil." Beckett agreed. "Your father is going to turn The Old Haunt into another place like this. There's one more that I know about, run by the 8th Precinct-"

She was about to keep going, when the sounds of yelling rose from the other side of the room. Two people were fighting over an actual, unspoiled orange. "Where do you suppose they found  _that_?" Alexis wondered.

"No idea." Beckett was up and marching toward them quickly. She swept up to them, snatched the orange out of their hand and put her other up to block them both as they spun to her. "Listen carefully, both of you. I'm a cop, and your landlord, of a sort. You've both got five seconds to plead your case. Go."

"He tried to steal my food!" One shouted.

"He was hoarding it! That's against safe house rules!" The other fired back.

"As it happens, you're both right." Beckett told them. She took the orange out of their hands and dug her fingernails in, tearing it right in half. "I don't mind you guys wanting to save your supplies, but in this room, we do that for you. We do it so that you never have to fight over the scraps. If you think you can get a better deal somewhere else, go ahead. This isn't a prison. This is a hiding place. And rule number one in hiding, is that we're all in it together." She promptly handed each of them half the fruit, and turned back to Alexis without even waiting for them to respond.

"That was brave." Alexis said quietly. "All due respect to you and the guys at the 12th... 'Police' is sort of an honorary thing now. It's not like you can arrest people any more."

"You would have stayed out of it?"

"Well, I would have waited until somebody actually started something. Putting yourself in the middle could have escalated it."

"If you're going to get involved, you have to get between them before anyone has drawn a weapon, or thrown a punch." Beckett told her. "Someone will walk it back from the edge of violence, but once the violence  _starts_ , a lot of folk will die before letting someone else get the last word, or the last shot in."

Alexis nodded, filing that way.

Beckett noticed her look, and realized she'd just started training her stepdaughter too. "That's true of a lot of situations. Prisoners, bar-fights, panics, riots... On average? You have four seconds to take control of a situation, and after that you've gotta pick a side and get your knuckles dirty."

* * *

Castle blinked fast as the bag was pulled off his head. He was inside, tied to a chair.

A woman with dark hair and eyes that were cold and dead like a shark was looking him over critically. "I saw you... when you left the 12th. Top Cop there is Beckett. The Stiletto Bitch kissed you when you left." She rasped. "I saw you... when you reached the Water Treatment." Her voice stayed low and harsh, like a permanent hiss. "I saw you... and the cop. You come from there to my place." She hissed a breath. "I saw you looking at the blood. You stink like a cop, but you don't have a badge. Not that it means anything." She opened her jacket. She had five police badges, dangling like trophies. "I saw you before you even got out of bed this morning."

_She's had the 12th under surveillance_. Castle blinked. "Where's Ramirez?"

She slugged him hard, across the jaw. "You don't talk. You answer. I put questions in, and answers come out. Like a machine, right? Because otherwise I put other things in. Bullet, knife, choose your own item. I could kill you with a rusty spoon, if I wanted." She pulled his face up by his hair. "Now. You were out front of the place. Why? You're no looter. If you were looking for food or weapons, you wouldn't have gone to the Works first."

Castle licked his bleeding lip. "Good thing you saw all that, or you would have dropped me."

"I did drop you." She waved at his vest, on the floor beside him. "Maybe you'll get lucky and say something that makes me think the second bullet is worth more than that jacket you're wearing." She grinned like a shark. "Think hard, because if I don't like what I hear in the first two words, I may not let you get to a third."

Castle took a breath. "Dino Scarpella."

The woman's eyes flashed.

Endless beat.

"Keep going." She decided finally.

* * *

Hayley pulled out a pen and held it like a knife.

Alexis settled into the combat crouch Hayley had taught her, ready to go.

"Well, there's your first mistake." Hayley snorted. "You know there's an attack coming. I just told you we were about to fight. You can't avoid it at this point." She gave Alexis a hard look. "Let me tell you something you don't get from the TV. In a typical street fight? First punch gives you the high ground. The first one to take a solid knock is hurting or limping. A knock to the head and suddenly you're seeing six of everything, getting dizzy, nauseous... If you want to avoid the fight, that's fine, but you're in an actual fight now. When it happens out in the streets? Do you plan to give your opponent the first swing? Do you plan to stand and wait for them?"

Alexis spread her hands wide. "You had a 'knife' and I didn't. When you're unarmed, why not be ready to counter? You're the one that said it: offense opens up your defense."

"You  _are_  armed." Hayley told her.

Alexis looked down at herself. Protective bandages wrapped around her knuckles. Hair pulled back in a ponytail. Sweats and sneakers. "I don't even have boots on."

"Look around." Hayley told her. "A bench. A table. Candles. Matches. Lockers. Magazines. A towel. A backpack."

Alexis looked at them all, trying to make herself think of whatever Hayley was trying to drill into her.

"Everything is a weapon." Hayley told her firmly. " _Everything_  is either a weapon, a tool, or a defense. A building is a protective wall and a place to set up. Food is a tool. To fuel you, to bribe others, to draw a civilian or a target. A magazine is a tool or a weapon. A way to cover your face, or a way to hide information or a way to-"

Alexis moved. A quick lunge that took her over to the backpack. She snatched it up and threw it at Hayley. The agent was able to bat it aside, but it gave Alexis time to reach the table and snatch up the magazine. Within two seconds she had rolled it up tightly as a baton. Seven inches. Hayley's 'blade' was only four inches long.

"I'm still taller than you." Hayley warned. "Not by much, but you don't have a greater range than me yet. What else you got?"

Alexis cast about and ran to the locker. Hayley let her go, to see what she would do. Alexis snatched up one of the gym towels and wrapped it around her free hand, layers deep. "That'll stop a short blade, right?" She gestured at the covered hand.

"Only if you take the edge, and not the thrust." Hayley nodded. "But now you've got a shield in one hand, and a weapon in the other. A low cost knight." She nodded. "You're learning fast."

* * *

Castle felt the pavement jump up and hit his face, even through the cloth bag. The cold bit into him instantly and he tried to stand up.

That harsh whisper in his ear almost seemed lighter for a moment. "Sixteen hours, Mister Book Writer. And thanks for the coat."

There was silence for several seconds, until the bag got pulled off his head by Ramirez. "They let us go." She coughed. Her face was bruised. She hauled him up and freed his hands.

"Thank god." Castle said when he saw her, teeth starting to chatter. "I thought they'd killed you."

"They were about to, but the guy with the knife heard you say the magic words." She told him. "But they took my gun, and that may yet be worse." She looked around. "Where are we?"

Castle looked around at the buildings. "Fifth Avenue." He croaked. "We're in the Dark Zone!"

* * *

Alexis ran the simulation again, sweeping the room. As she went around the faux-doorway, Hayley emerged from her hiding place to sneak up behind her, but when Hayley got to the doorway, Alexis had vanished. Her boots were sitting neatly on the floor beside the door. Hayley took half a second to be confused by that, when she felt a tap at the back of her neck.

"Bang." Alexis said smugly.

Hayley chuckled. "Very sweet move."

"Harder to track my footsteps when I'm in socks, huh?"

"Not a plan you can use all the time." Hayley smirked, pleased. "But in this case, you win. Which makes the score 21-1."

Alexis smiled impishly. "Again?"

"Again. But put your boots back on." Hayley told her. "Aside from medkits and emergency reserves, you measure the worth of your equipment by how often you use it and how urgently you need it. Your boots are the most important piece of equipment you have. Can't get far without them."

* * *

"I would give my boots for a gun." Ramirez hissed.

Castle was breathing hard as he skidded to a stop, hiding behind an overturned dump truck. "This is nuts. It's like 'Escape From New York' only less safe."

The streets had dead bodies piles at every intersection. Not like the body-bags in the rest of the city. These people had been gunned down mercilessly. Here and there, the bodies were strung up and carved up almost ritualistically. Wild graffiti was everywhere, in worship to terrible death gods that the modern world forgot.

The gangs roved thick and fast, and they warred with each other, not even concerned with saving their own lives. They ran into the fire, into the bullets, into the knives, tearing at each other. When they noticed Castle and Ramirez, the only option was to run. The chase had gone for almost six blocks. The two from the 12th ran with a hundred nightmares at their heels, as the wolfpacks of feral barbarians were hollering and hooting... And laughing. Some of them laughed with dark, unholy joy, exulting in the hunt.

"Reavers." Ramirez groaned.

"Huh?" Castle didn't get it.

"Bogeymen from a show I used to watch." She whispered. "That's what they remind me of."

"Here-kitty-kitty!" A voice yowled, a lot closer than they expected. "Come and play!" His laughter was like nails on a chalkboard.

_Fight or Flight?_  Castle asked himself. His eyes lifted to gaze over the whole cityscape. Even in these times, he could see movement in the city, see the lights of people inside. Not often, and not always normal lights, but they were there. Life hid, but it still carried on.

But not here. The Dark Zone was a place where the predators had devoured all prey, and were now just hunting for the sake of having something more to kill. The madness was thick on the walls, almost something he could taste.

Long shadows moved, showing terrible blades and clubs sneaking up on him...

Ramirez grabbed his arm and they ran again. The ground tried to swallow them, jumping up every ten feet. Traps and tripwires and mines of every kind were all over the place. The Dark Zone wasn't made to keep people out. It was made to keep them in.

"HERE!" Someone howled. "Come on! Come on!"

Something lashed out and caught Castle's Ankle. It was a snare, the kind that any scared rabbit might fall into. Castle saw the world spin on it's axis, and his head cracked against the ground, and then against the light pole as the trap took him off his feet, and left him dangling.

Castle saw Ramirez stop and look back, hesitating.

"Go!" Castle yelled. "Get help!"

She ran, but it was an empty gesture. There was no help to get. In the Dark Zone, hope was dead.

"Meat! Fresh meat!" Something that might have been human shrilled. Their pursuers grinned and cackled and drooled like hyenas as they closed in on Castle's swaying form.

_Alexis, I'm sorry!_  Castle thought wildly as he thrashed at them.  _I'm so sorry, baby!_

"Gotcha! I gotcha! Heheheheheeeeee!" They were as gleeful as Gollum with his ring as they reached out and stroked him, clasped at him...

_Kate! Where's Kate!?_

There was a sound, sort of like someone spitting, but it seemed to move a lot faster. One of the hyenas dropped suddenly. the others were so caught up her their bloodlust that they didn't even notice. Another muted whistle, and another freak dropped.

Now they noticed. They whirled around, surrounding Castle and looking outward. It was not unlike a pack of wild animals protecting their kill.

Castle, six inches above the ground, saw something that they didn't notice. A silver ball, about the size of a baseball. It rolled along the ground, and turned as it rolled to curl around under him, and get closer...

Castle had heard the thing described by Alexis. It was a smart grenade of some kind. He squeezed his eyes shut.  _Going to die... now!_

But the grenade didn't explode. Not exactly. Instead, a terrific blast of white light and smoke shot out, quick and violent enough to envelop all of them. he heard shouts of shock and pain, and then a brief burst of gunfire, the world suddenly went terribly quiet.

Blind and deaf, Castle just swayed, trying not to puke, when footsteps strode up to him. "Cut him down." A voice declared. "Mister Castle, I presume?"

"...w... Who..." Castle groaned.

"It's okay." The woman's voice said kindly. "My name is Faye Lau. We're here to help."


	5. Day 15: Let's Dance

"You're aware that you're violating about fifteen rules about proper use of firearms, right?" Beckett commented.

"Oh sure." Hayley was unconcerned. "Rookie? GO!"

Alexis sprinted the length of the firing range and kept firing till the gun clicked empty. Without hesitating, she ejected the clip, reloaded, and kept going. When she reached the end of the room, she bounded off the wall and ran back the way she came, firing again.

"You kept firing when you were dry." Hayley observed. "When you get Contacts of your own, I'll teach you how to set them to whatever weapon you're carrying. You'll have an ammo counter in front of you every time you pull the trigger." She looked at the target. "Good shooting, though."

"I missed the bullseye. By a lot."

"But you still hit the human target. Not easy to hit that mark while moving."

"Not safe to go running with a loaded gun while pulling the trigger, too." Beckett commented. "I probably shouldn't be watching this." She gave Alexis a nod and headed out into the bullpen.

Hayley stayed behind and summoned Alexis over to her. "Now me? I prefer one of these." She said brightly, and pulled a weapon Alexis didn't recognize. A short, thick tube mounted on a wide grip. She pointed it at the targets at the far end of the room, and pulled the trigger. Something thick and gooey flew across the room and hit the paper target with a wet 'splat'.

Alexis had half a second to look confused, when Hayley gave her a perfectly innocent smile, and the other end of the room burst into flame. Every paper target on the row burned away instantly, and the flames extinguished themselves instantly.

"I can see why you'd keep one handy." The young redhead said dryly.

Hayley grinned. "A girl's gotta have the right accessories when she goes out in a town like New York."

"Other than that..." Alexis grinned back. "How am I doing so far?"

* * *

"We're not doing as well as I'd like." Esposito declared.

"I know." Beckett agreed, looking at the map. "The Battery and Hell's Kitchen keep changing hands. The Dark Zone is completely out of control..."

"Yo!" Castle called from the door, sweeping in. "Kate, Espo! Someone here you should meet!"

They both spun around. Castle and Ramirez were on their way back in, and coming with them was a small crowd of strangers, well armed, and carrying crates of equipment between them.

"Castle, who are these people?" Beckett tried not to bark, but her Bullpen was filling up with people she didn't know, and she'd already fought off two invasions.

An Asian woman with a rifle slung in easy reach came up beside Castle, her eyes going straight to Esposito. "Agent Fay Lau. Strategic Homeland Division, Level Seven."

Esposito saluted, his contacts confirming her story as an overlay with her training and access came up. "Agent Javier Esposito, Second Wave, Level Eight. Glad to know we're not alone." He made introductions. "Captain Beckett, 12th Precinct."

Lau nodded. "Captain. You're to be commended in keeping your people together. Most Precincts have already been burned right to the ground."

While they started comparing notes, Castle slid over next to his wife. "Came across something interesting outside. We should talk."

* * *

Castle had laid out everything he had seen while outside. Including the Treatment Plant, and the moment he was captured.

"Okay, before we get to the other thing, I think we should agree not to tell Alexis that you were taken prisoner by the Mob, or she'd never let you out of her sight again." Beckett began seriously.

"Agreed." Castle nodded seriously.

"And we won't even  _mention_  the Dark Zone, but on that note..." She pounced forward and pulled him into a tight hug, kissing his face all over tenderly. "Are you okay?"

"Not an experience I ever wish to share with you or Alexis." He made her look at him. "Promise me. Nothing personal, Kate; but if the 12th ever has business in the Dark Zone, you make sure that everyone but you and Alexis get sent there first, okay?"

"I promise. Now, the Treatment Plant? Why were you there at all?" Beckett demanded. "What were you looking for?"

"The Timeline. At least, on the topic of water." Castle said quickly."There's something that doesn't add up."

Beckett looked at him carefully. "Is this because of how I reacted to you and Alexis? Because what I said about how this isn't cop work any more..."

"You were right, it isn't." Castle agreed ruefully. "But there are still plenty of mysteries to solve. For example, the water went off all over the place on the same day, and fairly early into the emergency, right?"

"Right."

"We assumed it was breakdown, because the entire staff was out sick, but it looks to me like it was done deliberately."

"Esposito thought it might have been that way." Beckett nodded. "He and Alexis were tracking the Factions that were forming. The Cleaners... They would have wanted the water off. They're determined to burn the whole city QZ to nothing."

"Nope, the recording I found was from one of the Cleaner's bodies, and it was five days later.  _After_  the water was cut off. The Cleaners tried to take over the water treatment, and got their butts handed to them. By someone organized, skilled, armed, and who could hold on to a hunk of City Infrastructure without raising enough alarms that we'd have heard about it. Communications were spotty, but we would have heard something if a hostile force had taken over the plant."

Beckett was slightly perturbed. "So what are you sayin', Rick? You're telling me that The First Wave were the ones that shut down the water?"

"That's the only way it makes sense to me." Castle nodded.

"Doesn't track. Once they found out it wasn't a water based virus, why wouldn't they turn it back on?"

"I've been listening to The Cleaner's recordings for over an hour. Whoever took the Treatment Plant tried to stop the spread by shutting it down, and then when they realized it wasn't water borne, they didn't even try to get it back. They filled up a truck with drinking water and drove off. Now, I don't know if the guys described on this tape are part of the Division, but I  _do_  know that they were all dressed in winter combat gear, and they were all using high caliber weapons. It looked like high level, but still standard issue stuff."

"Like a uniform." Beckett considered.

"I also know that they didn't take  _any_  casualties. None."

That got Kate's attention. "They could have taken their bodies..."

"Nope. Blood patterns all say the that fatalities were all coming from one direction. So either all the people shot in the battle happened to be facing the same way, including the ones on the opposite side..."

"So whoever took the water treatment was just that good." Beckett nodded slowly. "I go to Espo with this, and he'll tell me that we've got the wrong guy. He'll tell me that the First Wave would have had the authority to suspend the water if they thought that virus was there. He'll tell me that we don't know what happened after that. Not for sure."

"All of which is true." Castle admitted. "But is that why you don't want to go to him yet? Or is it something else?"

Beckett chewed her lip. "Castle, you know why the team we had last month was so good? It's because we were a family. You give me any situation, any problem, any objective. I could tell you how Ryan, or Espo, or you, or Lanie would have reacted to it. I wouldn't even have to ask, because they knew me just as well. But if I go to Esposito now, and say that there's something I don't trust about the Division... What will he do? Because I don't know."

"Neither do I." Castle admitted.

"Espo was so hesitant to attack the Docks three hours ago. One conversation with Lau, and he's ready for war. He doesn't trust us any more. He doesn't think NYPD can cut it in his world. And I hate to say it, but he may be right. We're down to eight people. Out of the entire Precinct... Eight."

"95%"

They both jumped, and turned to find Lau had somehow let herself in to hear them. One look at her face was all they needed to know how much of it they'd heard.

"Ninety. Five. Percent." Lau spelled it out for her. "You've done a whole lot better than most people have." She came over. "It wasn't Division. At the Water Treatment? Wasn't the First Wave, or the second. I know, because when I got activated, it was my first stop. I was trying to organize the engineers together to get the water running. We found a nest of hostiles, all wearing winter combat gear." She nodded to Castle. "It wasn't us."

"Then who was it?"

"A military unit. An experienced one. They got pulled from deployment overseas to help restore order." Lau told them, with a ironic smile. "One drawback to being top secret, you have to go through your own people sometimes. Those guys are still active, and they've got choke-points all over the city. We managed to get a bug on one, and it was less than six hours before found it and switched it off. But in those six hours, I was able to ascertain two things: One, they were military contractors, paid for their services... and two-"

Castle filled it in for her. "They realized early on that they weren't getting paid."

"So now they're just another player." Lau finished. "Possibly the most dangerous one on the board." She glanced at Castle. "You're lucky you didn't meet them. They're mostly around the northeast; but they've got people in the Subways, the Dark Zone, and the Infrastructure."

"Your people reporting on that?"

"They used to. Found the Drop Points all over the city. But..."

"The Agents in question are gone." Beckett finished. "They gave up?"

"Never."

"They died?"

"Must have, though I have no idea who did it." Lau sighed. "That's actually why I came in here. Esposito tells me you're good at spotting more that one mystery in the deaths of people. He tells me that you two often find something a lot deeper than who pulled the trigger." She shrugged. "I was hoping, since you weren't Division yourself, that maybe you'd spotted something we missed."

"I don't know if you noticed, Agent Lau, but there's a pretty big pile of bodies out there. Attrition would-"

"Would take a lot of my people, I know." Lau agreed. "But my people were trained for  _this_  set of circumstances exactly. Whatever happened to the First Wave, it wasn't attrition or gang violence, or even the Plague, because there would be at least a  _few_ survivors. There would have to be, because it was exactly what First Wave Agents are expecting."

"So whatever took them down, it was something... unexpected." Castle thought aloud.

"For people like us, that's not a long list." Lau agreed.

Beckett gave Castle a look, using their private telepathy that only married couples had.  _She's keeping us out of what's important, isn't she?_

Castle barely shook his head.  _She's asking us to investigate a multiple homicide. It's what we do, but it's not what they do._

Beckett turned to Lau. "We'll look into it." She promised.

* * *

Hayley kept drilling Alexis on everything from how to use the fancy Division equipment to what their code signals meant. That much Alexis picked up almost as fast as Hayley could teach it. Working in a team was a little trickier. They didn't have much of a team until Lau's people showed up.

They didn't have much equipment either. Hayley and Esposito had their own Division Tech, but that wasn't enough to outfit a full team. Lau had more, but she'd been battling the Concrete Jungle for most of the last two weeks, and nobody was game to take what she had left.

Alexis was working on one of her tests, field stripping a weapon, when Hayley led Faye Lau in and introduced them.

"This is Alexis Castle. She is my... apprentice, for lack of a better term."

Lau shook Alexis' hand and looked a little closer at her face. "She has Contacts."

"My spare set." Hayley nodded. "I don't have an Initiation set, obviously."

"They are useful little things, aren't they?" Alexis added with a grin.

Lau nodded reasonably. "So, tell me Alexis, how many people did I bring in with me?"

"Five." Alexis said promptly. "But the way they all move? You were trying to give the impression it was a lot more than that. That's why they keep moving. You didn't get here from anywhere else in the city unless you can move a whole lot quieter than that."

Hayley smirked proudly at Lau, who gave a grudging nod. "Welcome to Level Zero, Miss Castle. Once we establish a proper Base, we'll see about getting you logged into the system with your own gear."

* * *

Beckett was checking the sights on her weapon when she noticed Castle looking at his watch. "Are you in a hurry?"

"I'm on a deadline. I told you about my run in with the mob?"

"You started to when Lau came in. What happened with the shark-woman?"

"The one that had me tied up? I didn't get her name." Castle admitted. "But I did get one tidbit. I know who's running the Families now. The ones that are left, anyway."

"So there's been a shakeup." Beckett put in, suddenly a cop again.

"A big one. The major players all survived. My guess is, they haven't personally handled money in a while." He smirked. "The mid level guys and the enforcers all went with the Outbreak. They've been scrambling, trying to consolidate their people into something that can stand up to the Factions. The one in the lead is named Nico Giovanni. He was in hiding when it all happened, and then looked up and found out the rest of the board was nearly empty."

"Did Dino have any influence over him?"

"Practically his godfather, if you know what I mean." Castle seemed pleased with himself. "You ready for this? His people have been hiding on the edge of the Dark Zone. Both sides of it."

Beckett let out a low whistle. "And they're still alive? Tough guys."

"Tell me about it." Castle admitted.

Beckett noticed the shadow cross his face. "It was bad, then?" She said quietly, putting her arms around him. They'd been doing that a lot for each other lately.

"I swear, Kate. I've been 'Master of the Macabre' for my entire adult life, but the Dark Zone... it was just... Like taking a crocodile nest, putting it in a Gladiator pit, adding a full blown warzone, and then setting loose an Asylum full of deranged killers and madmen." He snuggled into her hair for a moment. "I saw so many bodies... I hate to think on it too hard, but it wouldn't surprise me if there were full blown cannibals in there."

Beckett shivered hard. "It was the most upscale, high rent part of the world's top MegaCity. Less than a month later, and they're willing to  _eat_  each other."

* * *

"Alright, people." Esposito called for attention again. "To bring you up to date on the current situation: Yes, we have reinforcements from The Division."

This little announcement was met with a round of applause. Things had been getting tense since the last attack.

"Agent Lau and her team have been locating civic and public works leaders and employees. We weren't the only ones to stay and try and to make it work." Beckett put in, taking over the briefing. "Obviously, Lau wants to get a Beachhead for The Division to sent in the cavalry too. She had three sites, Esposito's pick was the best option. The newcomers will be joining us on the strike force."

Esposito gave a nod. "That's right. Now, this next part is rumor control: Yes, Lau was organizing everyone who was left into a Joint Task Force. Those civil leaders were organizing a food and supply drop, when they went missing. There were reports of gunfire exchanged, but there was no sign of any bodies. The assumption is that they were taken prisoner, but we don't know by who."

"Are they priority?" Someone asked.

"One of many." Beckett commented dryly. There was a general groan around the room at that statement. "Saving their lives is important, since they can get us an infrastructure back, just like securing the Docks are the top priority, just like finding a cure, just like getting the works back online, just like, just like, just like."

"We've had the docks under surveillance for the last few days, we've got about as much intel as we're going to get from there." Esposito declared. "We'll have three teams. Team One will be me and my fireteam, Team Two will be Lau and the people she brought in. Team Three is Captain Beckett and the NYPD."

"Assuming we win, how long will it take to get more of your people in?" Alexis asked.

Lau raised an eyebrow at the use of the phrase 'your people', but didn't comment on it when she answered. "The Third Wave has a staging area in Brooklyn. They'll be watching for anything from a satellite uplink to a smoke signal. Less than a day after we take the lace, the Chelsea Docks will be Camp Hudson." She glanced at beckett. "I'm assuming you don't want a hundred of us based here for the duration."

"I still can't believe I'm begging the feds to take over." Beckett snorted.

"We're getting ready to move." Esposito said. "We'll ship out for Chelsea early, get there just after dawn. We attack from the east, we'll have the sun behind us."

Beckett nodded. "We'll be ready,  _sir_."

She was so frosty that there were icicles hanging from the whiteboard. Esposito knew that everyone in the room was aware of the tension, and wrapped up the briefing quickly. "Check in with Agents Shipton and Lau for details on the attack plan."

* * *

"You have to handle the problem with Kate." Castle told Esposito quietly.

"No kidding. What I'm not sure about is how to do that." Esposito said. "You know her better than anyone. Is she pissed about the secret, or about the fact that I'm not NYPD any more?"

"She's pissed because she can't bring Lanie and Ryan and everyone else back." Castle said solemnly. "It's like with her mom's case. When she can't see the solution, she goes over the facts as they happened, over and over, looking for the one thing that she can take by the throat and strangle a confession out of."

"And lucky me, I'm the One Thing." Esposito agreed grimly. "Okay. Well, might as well get it over with."

* * *

Beckett was checking her weapon in the shooting range. Over to the side, Hayley was taking Alexis through one last drill. Then Esposito and Castle came in. Alexis made eye contact with Esposito, eyes shifting to Beckett. Esposito gave her a look, and Castle came over to his daughter, giving Esposito and Beckett some space.

Beckett saw the whole thing playing out without even turning her head, and started shooting, firing five rounds, right to left, across the paper target's throat in a straight line.

"Say, Beckett..." Esposito said casually. "Feel like a quick dance? It's been a while."

Castle and Hayley knew what it meant and looked over, almost holding their breath.

Beckett knew what he was asking for too, and met his gaze head on. "You sure you dance with  _me_ , today of all days?"

"Better to get it out if the way  _before_  the gunfight." He nodded.

Beckett's eyes flashed. "Alright." She agreed coolly. "Let's dance."

* * *

The people who knew what was going on quickly closed the sparring room. Beckett and Esposito took their time, wrapping their wrists and knuckles, shedding their heavy overcoats.

She struck first. Three shots, one after another. Jab-jab-jab. Esposito blocked them, and spun around on his feet like a dancer, turning the spin into a toss. Beckett was able to get clear of that, lashing out harder. She was fury, and he was cold calculation. They fought like a firestorm hitting a glacier.

"So, when did it start?" Beckett asked after escaping a fairly devious judo hold. "Because the point of a Sleeper is that you don't know what they can do. Marines?"

"I never lied about being a Marine. I was with them for a year, and then got promoted to Special Forces."

"After a year? Is that unusual? Not even a full tour."

"It is, because I wasn't promoted so much as 'under observation'. I trained with Special Forces for a while, and then halfway through I got a different offer."

Beckett swung on him a lot harder than she needed to. He blocked her strike so fast she didn't even see him move.

"Just out of curiosity, your old buddies in the Corps, did they ever know?"

"Beckett, a lot of them are doing stuff they can't tell me about either." He retorted.

"I'm just running our whole career through my head." She growled. "For example, last year? That guy with hostages in the subway? Ryan was jumping through hoops finding out what he was sick with. But you stayed in the subway car and handled it yourself. Why do I think you saw more than you let on?"

Esposito set his jaw. "I... may have known more about his symptoms than was obvious on the cameras. It seemed like I should stay where I was."

"And, to take another example?" Beckett kept going. "When I was with the Feds, briefly? There was a case in New York that I couldn't talk about. How much did you know?"

"My sources aren't that... forthcoming, but I had a few details. Nothing you didn't know already."

"Bracken?" Beckett hissed, with a whole conversation loaded in the one word.

"I didn't know." He promised. "I found out when you did."

"Really? All your Presidential-ly assigned power and you're telling me you didn't know when a someone at his level was-"

"Beckett, I was a Sleeper. You know what that means. Nobody was going to help me. None of my people would even acknowledge me. Hayley and I didn't even know the other was also..."

"One of you?" Beckett challenged. She took the moment to lunge forward and toss Esposito over her shoulder, slamming him hard into the mat. "There's nobody more loyal to the team than people like us, Javi. And now I find out that you were never really 'my team'... I don't know if I can believe what you're saying."

Esposito quickly reversed the hold and rolled them both over, pinning her down hard. "Well, now you know how it feels." He shot back.

"Ex- _Cuse_  me!?"

"How long did it take you to admit that you and Castle were an item?"

"That was different."

"Why? Because you were trying to keep something private? Because you didn't know that it was going to stick and it didn't affect us or concern us until something changed? Does any of this sound familiar?" He bit out. "Loyalty? You want to talk to me about loyalty? Castle was our friend, and every time you and he were on the outs, me and Ryan threw him under a bus until you said it was all forgiven. We never asked for an explanation, or for gratitude. We just waited for you to tell us it was okay to speak to a close friend. For all that, we didn't even  _get_  to the wedding, and that was  _after_  you never told us that you were finally together. You want to talk to me about loyalty?" He gave her a swift chop and put her down hard. "Me and Ryan were demoted from 'your team' to your backup singers when he showed up."

"It's not the same thing!" She snapped, trying to break loose.

He kept her pinned. "Why not?"

She was silent a long moment, and slapped the mat, surrendering the round. "Because this week is different." She said finally when he let her up. "All the stuff I did? It may have been unfair, but the world was a fairer place back then. Fairer than  _this_ , at least. Be honest: When did you know how bad it was?"

Esposito was silent a long moment. "Day One." He confessed. "I called it in."

"And then you went into hiding. With Alexis, sure. You kept her safe, and I'm glad for it. But I know about the code Castle sent. If you never got that message, would you have even  _tried_  to help any of us until your damn watch lit up?"

"I don't need you telling me how cold that is." Esposito barked. "Ryan's gone. Lanie's gone. Most of New York is gone-"

"-and I went through it without  _you_!" Beckett snapped.

That once caught him off guard.

"Javi, I get why you went quiet, and I get why you didn't tell me sooner... But you know why this is pushing my buttons."

He did. "Captain Montgomery."

"It turned out The Captain knew about my mom's case since before I even became a cop, and..." She grit her teeth. "Javi, I know you loved Lanie and Ryan, probably more than I did, but if I find out that you had information that might have saved their lives, I'll kill you dead."

"And if I find out that you're keeping secrets from me in the middle of all this? I've got the authority to bust you down to latrine-digger." He shot back. "Because you're right. All the usual games? None of it means a damn."

Beckett put down her fists. "No, it really doesn't."

Esposito sighed and glanced at the door. "Look... Show of faith?"

Beckett nodded.

"I haven't told anyone this. Not even Hayley and Alexis."

Beckett hesitated. "You understand I'm  _not_  mad about being left out of the clubhouse."

"I do."

"Then go ahead."

Esposito glanced around and leaned in closer. "Quarantine has already failed."

Kate paled. "How bad?"

"Outbreaks in four different states and three other countries so far. That was the last I heard before communications went down. Hayley had a HAM Radio, but it went offline before she could confirm. Lau's information is out of date too. If I want more info, I have to take Chelsea Docks."

She gave him a single nod. "Then let's go take Chelsea Docks." She hesitated. "Javi... Are we still on the same side?"

"Of course we are." Esposito promised.

Beckett toweled off. Her voice suddenly dropped, vulnerable for the first time. "Could we have saved them?"

Esposito smiled, just a little. "I wanted you to join up. Did Hayley tell you that?"

"She did."

"This is why. You never concede defeat about anything."

Beckett shook her head. "I shouldn't be Division, for that very reason. My time with the Feds proved it. Some games you have to lose. Or else why does The Division exist?"

Esposito nodded, conceding that point. He let his voice drop too, showing the raw pain of the entire week. "They train you not to get too close to anyone or any place... It didn't work. I love this city. I love it so much. I love the people in it. Especially the 12th."

_Especially you_. He didn't say it. He didn't have to. Beckett almost, ALMOST shed a single tear, but she fought it back. "I love it too."

"Then lets go take it back."

* * *

"I still don't know why I got so mad at him." Beckett admitted to her husband later in private. "I get 'need-to-know'. I get that the whole point of The Division is that you hope you never get the call. And if  _anything_  should make it okay, it should be the end of the world!" She rubbed her red eyes. "So why can't I stop sniping at him like a spoiled teenager?" She almost laughed into his shoulder. "I told him point blank that I didn't want to be in his club. And I don't. So why am I reacting like this?"

"Because that's not what you're mad about at all." Castle rubbed her back as he held her. "You're mad about the fact that your city got hit with a plague that you couldn't even understand, let alone fight. You're mad about the fact that the day you discovered it existed was also the day you lost five loved ones, and it all happened without you even being there to watch. You're mad about the fact that you worked so hard to protect the innocent and punish the guilty and now both those words are fast becoming meaningless. You're pissed because you spent the biggest, nastiest week in New York History locked up in your office, downed by, of all things, the flu."

"Yeah, but there's nothing I could have done about any of that and-"

"And I bet that pissed you off dramatically." Castle said agreeably. "A control freak like you?"

"You think I'm taking it out on Esposito?" Kate sighed.

"Frankly, I'm jealous. You used to take it out on me." Castle teased. "It made the sex crazy awesome, as I recall."

"Oh, that's more than I needed to know." A voice winced.

They both turned to see Alexis was in the doorway to the office. She had been about to knock discreetly. Both Castle and Beckett turned away for a moment, very embarrassed.

"We're ready to go." Alexis told them lightly. "You, um... I don't know who's coming with us, but we're moving out."

"Oh, I'm coming with you." Beckett snorted. "Don't think for a second that I'm not." She turned to Castle. "Is there any point asking you not to come?"

"Let me think about it..." Castle tapped a finger dramatically against his lips, 'thinking' hard. "The two most important people in my world are running into danger. Do I want to go and try to help, or stay home and knit?"

Alexis looked to Beckett, asking the question without saying a word.

"I saw that." Castle pounced. "If you two are going to start teaming up against me in the field too..."

"It's not that, dad. This isn't like with Police Work." Alexis argued. "We aren't going out there to pull off some grand  _denouement_. This isn't the arrest at the end of a whodunit. This is a strike force. I've been training for that. Beckett has too. You've been with them for eight years, but you haven't been training with SWAT or anything. You've been learning how to solve mysteries. There aren't any mysteries here. We're going there specifically to attack hungry, brutal people, and to get shot at in return."

Castle's jaw hardened. He looked to Beckett, who looked sadly back at him. "She's right, babe." Beckett said quietly. "This isn't what we do. In this game, last one to shoot wins."

Castle looked promptly ready to strangle something. "Alexis, I didn't even want  _you_  in this, and now-"

"And now... what?" Beckett put herself between him and Alexis. "You're mad that she doesn't want her daddy there for her first time?"

"Not my first." Alexis said softly. "I already have one 'kill'. Maybe two. I haven't seen the guy I got since we routed the attack on this place."

Heavy silence.

"Rick..." Beckett said softly. "You said yourself, you were on a deadline. You have to meet Nico Giovanni..."

"You two  _are_  ganging up on me!" Castle blurted, looking from his wife to his daughter in disbelief. " _Partners_ , Kate."

"This isn't police work!" Kate argued. "This is war!"

"But you're still going! You're my wife, and you were my partner before that! Maybe this isn't what we joined up for, but I'm stepping up, just like you and Alexis!"

"Rick, you can't come anyway." Beckett told him. "I don't know how long this battle is going to take, but it's not like you can take a cab to your thing."

"Dad, if you can get some reinforcements for us, you'll save my life a dozen times. You come with us instead, you'll save my life only once at most, and might easily die doing it." Alexis added.

Castle deflated, almost sinking in on himself. "The pain of it is, that sounds totally realistic... And yet I'm certain you're humoring me."

"I just hope Dino's people are willing to talk." Beckett said seriously. "Because I can spare some people to get you to them, but I don't dare leave them out when we go to the Docks."

"Don't risk your numbers for the strike." Castle shook his head. "I'll go on my own."

"No." Alexis said instantly. "Dad, take my word for it, you don't last long on your own. There's plenty of wolves out there."

"The timing will have to be good. I want my escort teams back just in time for the strike." Beckett told her husband. "So you better go now. Get them on the team, or at least get them in their own territory. If they won't fight with us, at least make sure we can put our backs to them."

Castle nodded, having his marching orders. "Right." He collected his jacket and did it up tightly. "Mask?"

Alexis held up her gas mask. "You want mine? Police issue."

"So is his." Beckett put in and went to the door. "Ramirez!" She called into the bullpen. "You and Artie are on escort duty. Get Castle to the edge of the Dark Zone; and keep your head on a swivel." She turned to Alexis. "You got a vest?"

Alexis nodded, knocking her knuckles on her stomach. She was already wearing it.

Beckett grinned like a shark. "Then lets go get your team and show a few wolfpacks what we can do."

Castle suddenly realized what Alexis had been angry about for eight years. His wife kissed him, his daughter hugged him tightly, and they turned to go. Castle felt his chest hurting as he watched them leave. His beautiful women. His whole world, marching off to war without him.

"Alexis." Castle called after his daughter.

She looked back.

" _You're_  the wolfpack." He told her seriously.

Alexis felt her shoulder's straighten as she strode out into the street.  _Damn straight we are._


	6. Day 16: The Crucible

The team split up. The Division Crew went straight south, and would come into the Docks via the park. The remnant of the 12th would head west and come in from the dockyard. With the ocean at their backs and nothing moving in the water, the Raiders would be trapped. At least, that was the hope.

When they approached the River, Alexis spotted something in the mist. Something she didn't expect. At first, it looked like an ordinary cargo ship, but then she saw the holes blown through it... and the faded Red Cross painted on the side.

"It's a Medical Ship." Alexis said softly. "Those F-14's we saw when this started. They weren't aiming for the bridge, they were aiming for the ship!"

Esposito nodded grimly. "Must have gotten bad. I'd hate to have been on a ship during the outbreak."

"So, how many combat runs is this for you, Rookie?" Lau asked lightly.

Alexis winced, and looked to Hayley. "You didn't tell her?"

Lau looked to Esposito. "Agent, please tell me she's been on a mission before."

"She's ready." Hayley answered before Esposito could answer. "I've trained her myself."

"Not with my crew you haven't." Lau countered. "I'm sure she's a trusted member of your team, but this is the first time you've worked with us, and we both know it' going to be a maze. I don't want my people looking over their shoulder for her,  _and_  for hostiles at the same time."

"Due respect, Lau; but that's my call." Esposito told her. "But as it happens, I agree."

"Excuse me?" Hayley barked, suddenly furious.

"She's not ready." Esposito said firmly. "Not for straight combat."

"Not her fault that she had to learn on the job. As it happens, she saved your life on the first try. Only to way to get her more ready is to toss her in the deep end and see if she drowns." Hayley said tightly.

Lau was about to add something to the conversation when her radio clicked. "Go ahead."

"Lau, tell Espo that we've got movement." Beckett's voice called. "There's a... Marauder party heading into the Docks. Do we intercept?"

Lau shook her head. "No. We're not in position yet."

"Well get there fast, because we just answered the question about civilians." Beckett reported. "They had prisoners. Two of them. Both with hands tied, both with bags over their head. Espo, the way they're handling the prisoners..."

"Experienced?"

"Yup." Beckett agreed. "Espo, if you're an entrenched thug who can get away with murder, who do you send outside?"

"The cannon fodder." Esposito said immediately. "If you've got a safe place, you stay there, and send someone expendable to do the field work."

"If the low guys on the totem pole can handle prisoners, and do it easily enough that you can see the experience, then it means they've taken prisoners before. Maybe a lot of them."

Lau rolled her eyes. "So, basically everything we've planned for just went out the window, right?"

Esposito agreed. "We need a new gameplan."

* * *

Alexis eyes bugged out when she saw the sniper rifle. "Detec- I mean, Agent Esposito, I am not ready for that. Look at it. It's taller than I am."

"I know." Esposito unhooked the huge scope and handed it to her, the lens was easily as big as the palm of her hand. "You know the plan. What we don't know is what's inside. If there are other ways out of that maze of containers, we're going to get flanked. If there are civilians, we could lose them. We've been watching the place for days, but only from ground level and-"

"And what you're seeing doesn't mean anything until the shooting starts." Alexis finished.

"You're our spotter. You know what to look for?"

"Yessir." Alexis nodded.

"Find a perch, stay there, tell us what's coming. If you have a chance to get the civilians out, take it. We'll be your diversion and backup." Esposito ordered. "And find a cap or something. That red hair is like sending up a signal flare."

Alexis nodded.

Esposito regarded her a moment, and then reached under his jacket, coming up with a .22. He held it out to her, handle first. "Just in case."

Alexis smirked and pulled out an almost identical one from under her own jacket. "Just in case."

* * *

"What do you see, Rookie?"

Alexis was on the top of a telegraph pole, chosen because she'd be harder to see with the buildings behind her. Esposito was crouched at the entrance to the dockyards. She could see the first line of guards. From the street, they were invisible. "They're staying back from the street." She reported. "Thy don't want anyone to know they've got something worth guarding in there. I can see at least twelve guards, but they're spread out. I don't think they have enough people to protect the perimeter."

"Where do their lines get tough?" Hayley asked.

"Two rows of containers in." Alexis reported. "And Hayley? I'm seeing prison uniforms. Only on the inside, but some of these guys aren't gangs. I think they're from Rikers Prison."

"Which means they've reconnected with people on the outside." Lau put in. "The Prison's probably empty by now."

"And I think they have traps set up where they're weak. Watch for tripwires." Alexis added.

Hayley glanced at Esposito. "If we can get them out to their perimeter, we can make those traps work for us."

Esposito agreed. "Beckett, you're up."

* * *

Beckett and her people from the 12th all emerged from the side streets and marched up to the front entrance of the Chelsea Docks, guns drawn. Beckett had a megaphone. "Attention to everyone holding the Dockyards right now. This is the NYPD! This area is being claimed to help with the current state of Emergency! We have the authority to do that! We know that some of the people in here are escaped from Rikers, and that many of you have outstanding warrants! We're not here for you! We just need the docks! If you're armed, you will throw down your guns and vacate immediately. We promise safe passage to anyone who wishes to leave! You have one minute to declare your intentions before we come in!"

It took fifteen seconds for the first shot to ring out. The second one came soon after it.

The NYPD took cover and started shooting back. Both sides were too tightly entrenched to get a clear shot at the other, but they were making lots of noise.

From her vantage point, Alexis saw the situation and reported in. "They're coming out of their hiding places. I count about thirty so far... But they're all over the place. I don't think they know whether to take cover or attack Beckett."

"Where are the majority coming from?"

"The Pre-Fabs. The office space, fourth row in. The Fire Evacuation plan says they're customs offices." Alexis reported. "You won't be able to fight your way in that deep. They're too many."

Esposito made the call. "We'll draw them out. Rookie, watch for the ones who won't leave their posts. If it's the Customs Offices, then that'll be where the hostages are."

* * *

Around the fenceline, some containers had been put against the inside of the fence, part to prevent anyone bashing them down with a battering ram, partly to give the Rikers somewhere they could look down at the outside street and shoot attackers.

With the NYPD distracting the guards, the crew from the Division had found a different way in, cutting their way through the fenceline efficiently. Once through the wire fence, they cut their way into the container right behind it and were suddenly concealed inside the first defensive line.

Alexis spotted for them. "Lau, you've got three stragglers fifteen feet south of where you cut your way in. They're on top of the container."

"Setting charges." Lau called back. "Next?"

Alexis looked. "It looks like most of them are heading to take on the NYPD. They're looking for a way to flank Beckett without leaving the Docks. You'll find two groups, one heading west, one heading east." Alexis knew not to call out 'left' and 'right' to people facing different directions. It would cause confusion, but she used her contacts to mark the bad guys anyway. "If you can intercept them, you'll have the Raiders completely surrounded, but watch above. The cranes have people in the cabs, and they're above you."

"Lau, engage when ready. Shipton and I will go in and get the hostages."

* * *

Lau and her people came flying out of a shipping container, guns blazing. The Raiders and the Rikers fell back, trying to handle a sudden surprise attack coming from  _inside_  the fence. The defenders at the fenceline noticed and quickly spun around, trying to take advantage of the higher ground, when the metal beneath their feet suddenly exploded from Lau's charges, sending them all scattering in panic.

Absolutely nobody noticed when Hayley and Javier jumped the fence and quietly made their way around the far side of the fortifications.

* * *

Castle and his escort arrived at the edge of the Dark Zone. He gave it a very hooded look. "I would have rather met anywhere else."

Ramirez agreed silently. They could hear howling and shooting coming from the other side of the fence. Human howling.

Castle saw a glint of shadow moving out of the corner of his eye and spun, gun-drawn. Ramirez did the same.

The shark-woman had come up from a sewer grate, gun in each hand. "Drop it!" She warned him.

Castle did so. So did Ramirez.

The woman smirked and looked up at the nearest building, giving it a nod. A moment later the front door opened, and out stepped two more guards and a man with his hair slicked back neatly. He was wearing the same warm survival gear that they all were, as well as two expensive leather holsters with a pair of twin handguns. He was the first shaved and groomed man Castle had seen in two weeks. He stepped over to Castle. "Nico Giovanni."

"Richard Castle." Rick returned the introduction.

"I know who you are, Mister Castle. Dino spoke highly of you. He always wondered which character in your books was based on him." Nico stepped forward. "Tell me: Why  _did_  you kill off Derrick Storm?" He shook his head. "No, I don't care."

Castle got to the point. "I've heard that your people are the only ones who can dance back and forth across this fence." He gestured at the Dark Zone perimeter.

"That's actually the easier part." Nico observed. "Look! It has a gate and everything." He grinned, suddenly shark-like himself. "The Crucible, Mister Castle. Something your books rarely dwell on, is how easy it is to test someone's mettle. Dino understood that." He sighed. "Put an ordinary person in something like that, and see what happens. If it doesn't swallow you, then you come out the other side a changed man. The same can be said of my family business, Rikers Island, pretty much any guerrilla war." He smirked at Castle. "In a way, I'm more at home now than I ever have been."

Castle nodded, though he didn't agree. "I see your meaning, Mister Giovanni. If I may ask, is that why we were left there? Just to see what I would be if I made it out?"

"I'm impressed you made it out of the Dark Zone at all." The man said. "You saw the people in there. Less than a week, and your Police Captain Wife actually sends you to  _me_  for help." He grinned. "People from your world, always think we fall so far into savagery so quickly. What you don't get, is that it's not that far a drop."

"At least we didn't until this week, Mister Giovanni." Castle said respectfully.  _Be Polite, Rick. This guy will kill you on a whim._  "If I may say, Dino also understood that you don't get far in the jungle on your own. My wife  _did_  send me, but I would have come anyway: Can we be allies?"

"I admit, I've had the same thought. My organization isn't what it used to be." Nico agreed. "And you're the first one to pass the audition."

"How many others have there been?" Ramirez put in.

"Six. Two cops, one Fed; and three guys who figured the end of the world was reason enough to get fresh with my sister."

Shark-Woman snorted. "I might have given them a shot if they'd had it in them to make it back." She looked Castle over. "On the other hand, nah."

Castle reacted. "This is your sister?"

"Carla Giovanni." Nico made introductions. "So, Mister Castle. An alliance?"

"Or at the very least, a truce." Castle nodded. "If you can handle the Dark Zone, we certainly don't want you as enemies."

"The question, is who am I negotiating with?" Nico asked. "Am I talking to Dino's friend, a fellow survivor to whom the family owes a favor? Am I talking to the 12th's Team Mascot? Or am I talking to the Division's associate member?"

Castle reacted. "You know The Division?"

"Who do you think put that barricade up?" Nico waved back at the Dark Zone. "I was there when they did it. They couldn't fight their way through us, so they sealed us in, and left us to die. We walked out, and found that they had abandoned their own checkpoints."

 _The First Wave._  Castle thought. He was about to say something aloud...

When a grenade suddenly came sailing in from somewhere and landed at his feet, right between him and Nico.

"AMBUSH!" Carla screamed.

* * *

"This is bad." Hayley commented, firing steadily. "Who the hell gave these guys motion tracking mines?"

"I don't know, but it's got them more boxed in than us."

"Right, which means they won't fall back. Lau's got a pitched fight, Beckett's completely out of position, and we're boxed in!" Hayley hissed. "We were supposed to be getting the guards away from the Customs Offices. And what happened?"

Espositio pointed at the attackers on his overlay, all of them creeping closer, trying to catch them unawares. "We got them away from the Customs Offices."

Hayley suddenly realized. "You were the one who said she wasn't ready."

"You were the one who promised she was." Esposito shot back. "Make a break left on the count of one."

Hayley nodded, slapping another clip in her gun.

"ONE!" Esposito hissed and they both bolted, running for the maze of shipping containers. Sensing victory, their attackers gave chase, not even looking back.

* * *

"Alexis, we've officially got their attention in here!" Esposito called.

The Division's newest agent took a deep breath and started climbing down from her perch. "On the way!"

* * *

The container yard was basically a maze. Hayley and Esposito were making the turns, leading with their weapons, checking the corners, but they were moving further away from their people with every turn, and the Raiders kept chasing them in deeper.

"We gotta fortify!" Hayley declared, even as the bullet grazed across her cheek.

"Love the extra second to do it!" Esposito gritted. He'd dropped a smoke grenade to cover the next turn, but their attackers were moving too fast to let the smoke build between them. "Beckett! Get your people to the West Entrance, now!"

"NYPD's on the way!"

Hayley focused her eyes just enough that her contacts put up the overlay. "Another three turns, and we're in open ground!" Her augmented sight caught something else. "She's going for the Offices!"

The two Division Agents came out of the stacks of containers into open ground, and ran hard as they could. The scattered Raiders came out after them, firing wildly...

And walked straight into an ambush. Five members of the 12th were spread out, entrenched and already shooting back. The Raiders suddenly tried to scramble back into protective cover, running into their own people. They weren't trained in how to fight as a team, and were paying for it with their lives.

* * *

Alexis had scampered her way through what was left of the guards and hid behind cover as needed to make it to the Customs offices.

The offices weren't exactly a prison. There were caged areas, but they were meant to secure packages and quarantine animals that came over on ships. If it had been meant to hold people, Alexis would never have been able to creep her way in through a window. More than a dozen people were caged up in the pre-fab office space. They were all tied to the walls and the cage doors with zip ties.

And a lot of them were wearing uniforms. Alexis made a quick scan for guards with her Contacts, found none, and came over to the cage with her knife, cutting the nearest prisoners free. "I'm Ale-" She caught herself. "I'm Division Agent Castle." She shook off the moment. It was the first time she had called herself that.

"Roy Benitez, JTF." The first man responded as soon as his hands were free.

"JTF? Your coalition has a name already?" Alexis remarked, and Benitez gave her a deathglare. "Never mind."

"Nice to know the Feds are all in this together too. It was  _your_  Agent Lau that got us to organize this little expedition. You didn't think to check and see if the damn docks were occupied first? Does the left hand actually know what the right hand is screwing up, or are we humble  _local_  teams just special that way?"

"Perhaps we can sort this out when we're somewhere else?" Alexis grit out, embarrassed by her gaffe. "Lau and the rest of our people are drawing off the guards so that I can get you out of here."

"Listen... kid." Benitez said, looking over her young face exactly once. "We aren't done yet. We have a mission here. Take the Docks, establish a beachhead; bring in reinforcements." He spat thickly, looking over his people. Some of them had been roughed up. Some of them roughed up badly. Alexis' knife was being passed along the row, getting them all free. "We ain't finished yet."

* * *

Beckett was mopping up, when Ramirez's voice came over the radio. Not the Division Frequency, the NYPD radio. "Captain! We need reinforcements! The meeting was ambushed! They already took out-LOOKOUT!"

Beckett froze as the sound of gunfire came over the line. "Ramirez?!" She called back. "Report?!"

No answer.

Beckett keyed her other radio. "Espo, were you following that?"

"Yeah, but we're sort of occupied right now, Captain." Esposito grit out. She could hear gunfire where he was too.

"Send me. I'm not needed here any more." Beckett hissed, already moving.

"There really isn't much point to me refusing, is there?" Esposito commented. "Go! But keep your head down. I'll follow as soon as I can!"

Kate was already running. "Espo, nobody tells Alexis until I find out what happened to her father!"

* * *

"We should tell her." Hayley told Esposito firmly.

"When the current Op is over, I will." Esposito promised. "It's her first Combat mission, I want her brain  _here_  where its needed." He changed frequency to include the young Agent. "Alexis, we've taken down the majority of their numbers. The ones that are left will entrench. Could make it harder for you to get out again, especially if you have civilians."

* * *

Alexis tapped her earpiece. "Interesting development on that point, sir. They aren't civilians."

"Say again?"

"Police, national guard, city works, some firemen, one or two ambulance workers and a few Precinct Captains." Alexis reported. "Almost twenty of them are here. They were trying to organize a relief drop when the Raiders hit."

Benitez leaned in close enough to use her radio. "And they aren't just street punks. There are some serious hitters outta Rikers Prison here. Those are the ones throwing their weight around, they'll be the ones to entrench. You don't get soft where they've been. They'll know to stick together."

* * *

Hayley looked at her partner. "Well, you were wondering where the others like Beckett went. Now you know."

Esposito swore. "Can you get them out?"

"I can get them out of the cages. Getting them out of the docks are a whole other matter." Alexis answered. "But I don't think I have to. Stand by."

* * *

The battle for the docks had paused. The Raiders had been routed, but the Rikers had entrenched. The containers worked as a maze of fortifications, just as Getting them out would take time and people. Alexis drew the map in her head. There would be two rows of containers, and that was where her Contacts said the majority of the surviving enemies would be.

Benitez crept out of the Offices behind her and scowled at the daylight. "You got a plan, kid?"

"This is the center of their setup." Alexis thought aloud. "So anything valuable, they'd keep here. Their prisoners,  _and_  their supplies."

Benitez got the point and started scanning around. "They'd keep the weapons on them, surely. Nobody still alive does so by putting their guns out of reach."

"Guns are heavy, and food is scarce." Alexis told him. "If they've got somewhere safe to put heavy stuff down, where would it be?"

* * *

"How long do we let them hold the stalemate?" Lau asked. "I have no angle for sniping, and they're in too far for grenades."

"Give us three minutes!" Alexis called. "We found their ammo stash! Not many guns, but plenty of gunpowder, and bottles of booze! Three minutes, and the JTF can get them running your direction!"

Lau smirked, despite herself. "The Rookie's a little bit dark and devious."

"You should meet her father." Hayley commented, sending a look at Esposito. "The longer we wait, the longer Beckett goes without backup."

"I dispatched two of my people when you sent Beckett." Lau said lightly. "She's  _got_  backup." She shrugged at Esposito. "Alexis isn't the only one who needs to keep her head in the game."

* * *

Benitez had his people armed with improvised weapons, and followed along behind Alexis as she crept through the maze. She pointed silently, using the hand signals that police used for 'enemies'. Her Contacts told her that they were on the other side of the container they crept along. She could hear them taking pot shots in the other direction, not knowing Alexis had freed and armed their prisoners.

Benitez put his face right up next to hers. "So, do we flush them out, or set up a kill-zone?"

Alexis relayed the question to Esposito. "Spare their lives if you can."

Benitez shook his head. "They're Rikers. They won't be taken alive. They've spent time Inside, kid. They'll go down swinging first. The Queen Bitch in charge of their faction is crazy enough that they're too scared to fall down when you shoot them."

Alexis shivered. She was going to have to earn her keep. She was the only Division Agent in position, and she had plenty of backup... And she was the only one armed with an actual weapon. If people were going to die...

Benitez wasn't nearly as hesitant. "Go!"

His people struck, tossing their explosives and incendiaries over the wall. Flame and shrapnel burst outward in every direction, and Alexis heard cries of pain.

The Rikers came around the turn in the maze, with a roar, some of them on fire. Alexis and Benitez were the first ones they came across. Benitez met them halfway, his time in captivity giving him plenty of time to nurse a grudge.

The rest of the JTF were quick to join their Captain, making sure not to get between Alexis' gun and the enemies. Alexis suddenly felt hyper-alert, like the world was moving into slow motion.

Esposito and Hayley came running up. "Surrender!" Esposito roared. "We told you, we don't want prisoners, or bodies. We just need the docks!"

Alexis saw them hear the call, saw them register what it meant. For a microsecond, she thought that maybe they'd take the deal...

...and then she saw their faces harden, though they were suddenly outnumbered. "DIE, PIGS!" Someone yelled like a banshee, and Alexis saw him charge at Hayley, fireman's axe raised high, ready to cleave her in half.

The gun in Alexis' hand barked, almost without her registering it. The berserker dropped like a stone. And when the man behind him saw it and lunged, swinging a shotgun around toward her, she fired again...

...and when the last of the Rikers pulled in closer to cover each other, Alexis caught a glimpse of Hayley bringing that launcher up again, a wet splat hitting the side of the container...

...Alexis grabbed Benitez by the collar and yanked him to the ground as the whole world suddenly exploded...

...and then it was suddenly over.

* * *

REPORT.

**SHD Agent - Level Nine. Javier Esposito.**

VERIFY.

**ZZ-Alpha-Lanie-Three-Whiskey-Tango.**

PASSWORD ACCEPTED. ISAC ONLINE.

**Stage One Complete. Beachhead taken. Co-ordinates to follow. Operation Dark Winter is an immediate 'go'. First Wave MIA, presumed KIA.**

REPORT RECEIVED. REINFORCEMENTS GATHERED AT SECONDARY FOB IN BROOKLYN. ETA: THREE HOURS.

* * *

"We're in business!" Esposito reported. "Turns out our people have been gathering in Brooklyn, waiting for us to give them a place to land."

Alexis came up and made her report. "We lost two of the JTF, three wounded. NYPD has no casualties, but I can't find Beckett anywhere..."

Lau and Hayley looked swiftly to Esposito.

Alexis saw the look and paled. "What? What happened?"

Esposito let out a sigh. "Alexis, something happened. Your father, as you know, was meeting with some people to try and get us some allies. We got a call in from Ramirez, saying that meeting was ambushed. I sent Beckett and Lau sent two of her people to investigate."

"My people were supposed to report on what they found... two minutes ago." Lau added.

Alexis was already moving.

So was Esposito. "Lau, this whole complex is going to fill up with helicopters and supply boats soon. I'm putting you in charge of logistics and base construction. My Fireteam and I are going to check on our missing people. I want communications, fortifications, and Ops up and running by the time I get back."

"Yessir." Lau glanced back at Alexis, already a block away. "You want me to send anyone to go with you?"

Esposito shook his head. "We've been behind the curve too long. With a viable beachhead, we've got a real chance to do some good now. I need this place running... more than I need Beckett." It felt bad even saying it, like the worlds turned to rot in his mouth.

* * *

Alexis wasn't bothering with the rooftop routes, half sprinting, half jogging.

Javier kept pace with her. "Kid, remember to be smart. Beckett and two experienced Agents did exactly what you're doing now, and we never heard from them again!"

Alexis slowed. "I told my dad to go meet this guy. I told him not to come with us. I told him it was too dangerous to come on the mission."

"I know." Esposito sighed sympathetically. "Don't count your dad out just yet."

Alexis glanced back. "Hayley not coming?"

"Not on the ground. You two egg each other on too much." Esposito snorted. "This story began with you and me waiting out the end of the world, Castle Jr. I think we can handle this."

"Don't worry, Rookie. I got your back." Hayley said in her ear.

* * *

They made it to the edge of the Dark Zone. The large fences were up and strengthened by parked trucks and razor wire. "First time I've ever gotten a look at this area." Esposito commented. "Look at the markings on the plastic sheeting. This was official, whoever did it."

"First Wave?"

"Sounds about right. Huge shopping districts in there... We know the virus was on the money... It would make sense if this was Ground Zero."

"I never saw who put it up." Hayley reported. "I was making my way southeast, but... One day, there it was." Her tone changed. "Javi... I can see bodies."

* * *

Alexis dove on the two bodies and turned them over. "It's not them." She said in relief. "It's not Beckett and my dad."

Esposito crouched down. "These are Division Agents. The ones Lau sent with Beckett." He looked around. "No blood spatter, no other bodies..."

"What happened here?" Alexis asked under her breath. She wanted to call for her father, but knew better. Silence was survival.

Esposito focused his eyes, just a little. Everything lit up with a new overlay.  **"Echo Beacon Online."**  ISAC reported.

"Rookie, did Hayley teach you to do this?" He asked.

Alexis nodded quickly and ran the Echo herself. The image didn't move. It was a single snapshot. "Where does the image come from?"

"Whatever radio signals that are still intact, satellite data that gets picked up in random keyword sweeps, whatever microphones that are around, even if they're not actively transmitting... All that stuff gets stored in various buffers in various databases here and there. Get to it in time, ISAC can reconstruct a few things. Partial glimpses from a hundred directions add up to a picture."

"Worth a thousand words." Alexis agreed.

The image showed Beckett flat on her back, hands clawing at her jacket. The overlay showed her Police ID just to make sure. The two men that lay dead beside them were firing at something in the distance, beyond the range of the Echo.

The Echo had audio as well.  _"Cover's Up. Captain, you alive?"_

Beckett was grunting.  _"Nominated, not elected. The vest held. Cover Nico! He has to get to-"_

Gunfire.  _"That vest should have cracked against that kind of round."_

 _"I have a custom vest."_  Beckett grunted again.  _"Two plates instead of one. Get shot in the heart and your husband gets all protective. Where'd the shot come from?"_

 _"Kate, just go!"_  A familiar voice yelled, and Alexis felt her heart pound. It was her father.

And then an eruption of gunfire rang out from every direction. Alexis jumped, spinning around, looking for the attack, but there was none. It was all just Echoes.

At the very edge of the Echo, was a single outline of an attacking Soldier. He was wearing an eyepatch.

Her eyes returned to Beckett's image, laying flat on the ground.  _What if this is the last time I ever see you?_

* * *

"What do you make of it?" Esposito asked once the image faded.

"My dad was here... So was the Mob guy he was meeting." Alexis scanned the area. "The fight went badly." She said finally. "The guys in white uniforms had my family and the others surrounded..." She looked up at Esposito. "There are only two bodies. And the way they're laying says they were on their knees when they got headshot, lined up next to each other. They singled out the Division Agents for execution."

Esposito gave her a nod, eyes dead like a shark. "Which means?"

"That they took the others alive."

"I know that's what you're focused on right now, kid. But try and stay frosty." Esposito told her. "It means that they know how to  _identify_  Division Agents, it means they know we exist at all, and it means that whatever the Battalion is doing, they don't dare let  _us_  live long enough to find out about it."

Alexis chewed her lip. "Don't react to this, but if my dad was writing it, the bad guys would set up an ambush for more Division Agents coming to check the scene."

"They did." Hayley said over their radio. "Two guys with a sniper rifle. Good position too. I only found them because I was trying to set up in the same spot. They didn't get a call off to anyone else."

"Anything we can use?"

"No name-tags, no ID, no maps." Hayley reported. "One of these guys was outfitted with a radio, hardwired to a specific frequency. I can relay the frequency to Lau's people, and they can run a scan. Get two people with a direction, we can track wherever they were getting orders from and giving reports to."

Alexis looked to Esposito. "If they have a base, or a Keep somewhere, it's probably where they took their prisoners."

* * *

An hour later, they were back at the 12th and Lau reported in. "My people got a direction on the radio. Dead end."

Alexis fists clenched so tight that her palms hurt. "Dead end  _how_?"

"The snipers were getting their orders over the radio. The signal tracked back to a relay wired into a cell tower. No way to know where it was relaying a signal from."

Esposito put his fist into the desk. "Dammit."

Alexis looked at Hayley and gestured for them to speak privately.

* * *

"People, can I have your attention." Esposito called to the Bullpen. "I can already hear the rumors, so here it is straight up: Captain Beckett was not killed in action at the Docks. She has, however, been taken. The circumstances were unrelated to the mission. She and Richard Castle were meeting with some people we thought might make good allies, and there was an ambush."

Numb shock. The Captain had been holding them together since the world ended.

"Now, we've examined the crime scene, and we believe she's alive. Castle as well. Obviously, we're already tracking leads. We  _will_  get them back. Now for the good news: The mission was a success. We've taken a staging area, and forward operating post. Our people are coming across the river by the hundreds, due in no small part to what you guys did. With that in mind, the 12th's job is to get the Captain back. Hit the streets. Find out everything you can about the soldiers in white uniforms. Especially where they're based. Report to me or Lau if you find anything worth chasing. Until then, we finish what we started. It's what Beckett expects of us all."

His audience started to break up, heading for the doors. The 12th would turn over every rock in the city for their captain. But then Hayley marched Alexis in and put her in front of Esposito and Lau. "Tell them what you told me."

Alexis shook her head. "It's just a-"

"A crazy theory, yes. They run in the family, it seems." Hayley pushed. "Tell them what you told me."

Alexis sighed. "The Signal Relay is  _maybe_  a bluff."

Esposito grew noticeably taller. "I'm listening."

"We've been coming at this the way we would have back in the old days. Find the bad guy, track the order, find the Boss. The same way you would take on organized crime or a Vice sting. Track the signal relay like tracking an email address. But the world isn't like that now. All we've got is what we have in our pockets. The Battalion, whoever they are, they're better equipped than anyone else out there... But so is the Division, and we don't have the kind of resources we'd need to take on people with electronic surveillance. It's because there isn't any surveillance out there. If the army guys are a Faction like any other, then they'd have to make do with what they had, and if their plan is to take over, or rob the city blind, or even just to keep their eyes on everything..."

"Then they'd need to cover the whole city." Lau thought aloud. "And why use so many electronic tricks and antennae keeping one pair of snipers informed, when you have a whole army to manage?" She almost seemed convinced for a moment, but shook her head. "No. We checked the equipment. It was a relay. They  _did_  expend the equipment."

"Right, but my point is, what if that cell tower  _was_  the source of whatever orders the Soldiers were getting, and the relay was just there in case anyone figured that out?" Alexis pressed. "You either have a hundred relays to confuse anyone tracking a hundred soldiers... Or you have  _one_ , to make anyone who got that far stop looking. Use a hundred, or just one. You're trying to organize the Division to retake the whole city. What would you do?"

Lau had to admit it. "Yeah. I could see that plan working."

Esposito was suddenly filled with a dangerous energy. "Where was that 'relay' your people found?"

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Next chapter will be the last. This is a crossover to tell an origin story, and will end at the start of gameplay. I can't guarantee that it'll never be picked up again, but at this point I have no plans for that.


	7. Day 17: Take It Back!

The Relay was on top of Madison Square Garden. Getting up to the roof was difficult, since they knew the place was crawling with gangs.

"Ascension gears." Lau told them quietly. "We can go straight up the elevator shaft to the roof. The doors are all sealed with the power out. They won't even know we're here if we walk soft."

Alexis fixed the gear to her body armor and zipped up five floors in ten seconds. If her father had been there he would have whooped like it was a rollercoaster. If her family hadn't been hostages right now, she would have had fun too.

"What's the word inside the Stadium?" Hayley asked.

"More than thirty hostiles, according to infra-red scan. There's several quarantined points in there too." Lau reported. "We think they have medical staff as prisoners, but we don't know who they are yet."

Alexis glanced at Esposito, who gave her a calming look. "Our team first, then we help those people. Add The Garden to the List."

"It's going to be a long list." Alexis said, soft enough that she barely heard it herself. If her family hadn't been missing right now, she would have been more concerned.

"There's the Relay." Lau pointed to the Cell Tower. There was something new wired into it. Alexis climbed up and took a closer look. "I have no idea what I'm looking for."

"Anything that looked like a concealed cable, or transmitter."

"Nothing in the relay..." Alexis called back. "But there is something here... Hayley, this is the same sort of signal relay that my dad bought when he went on his PI shopping spree. Is this what a battery pack is meant to look like?"

Esposito gave her a boost and Hayley clambered up. "No. Battery pack is meant to be mounted vertically in this model of Relay. This one's horizontal."

"Different model?" Lau guessed.

"Not a battery." Esposito said it. "Check it out."

Hayley pulled out her multi-tool and carefully pried the cover off the battery pack. "Bingo. It's a directional antenna. Narrow band. This relay is sending anything it gets in a specific direction, so that nobody in any other direction can overhear... And I'd say it has to be within half a klick."

They all went to the edge of the roof and scanned the city, looking for anything that stood out.

"There." Hayley said. "The Post Office."

"Big place." Esposito said quietly. "Why there?"

"The cars and trucks." Hayley pointed.

"There aren't any." Alexis said, not getting it. "Not at the Post office."

"Exactly. It's the only building in the street with at least twenty feet of no vehicles around it." Hayley declared. "Someone moved them back to make a perimeter." She flicked Alexis' ear hard. "Keep those eyes open, Rookie."

"She's right." Esposito said shortly. "Alright, back to ground level and let's get outta here. We're in a line of sight and we're on the rooftop with their Communications Relay. Sooner or later we're going to be noticed. Let's hope it's later and be elsewhere before they start taking shots at us."

Everyone moved back, out of sight of the street.

"Lau, that's our next mission." Esposito told her. "You and your team get your heads together."

* * *

It wasn't a prison cell. It was an office building. But the door was a secure room. Back when civilization mattered, the papers must have been useful or important in some way.

But the door locked, and that was all that mattered if your hands were tied. Additions had been made to the room, cage walls mounted and bolted to the floor and ceiling. It was prison enough that they couldn't get out.

Castle looked up as the door opened, and Beckett was shoved in. Her hands were tied behind her back and she sprawled, before her guard hauled her upright and cuffed her to the cage wall alongside her husband.

"Beckett?" Castle whispered. "You okay?" He wanted to break his chains and kiss her immediately, but he didn't dare let slip too much about their relationship.

"So how was your day?" Beckett declared, groaning.

* * *

"Well, this sucks." Esposito commented. "How up to date it this?"

"Latest data is six days old." Lau told them. "We have data from last week. Cera had taken over the place as an operating base, and then they went dark. We never found out who did it."

"We have now." Esposito said tightly. "What's our point of entry?"

"There isn't one. We can set up all kinds of sniping positions, but there's nothing we can do from the outside without them killing the hostages." Lau told them. "There are three routes in via the underground; including the Penn Station Line. No joy. They've got all kinds of things rigged, and the ones that aren't full of traps they've collapsed."

"So, what's our move?" Alexis demanded.

"We'll find one, Rookie." Esposito promised. "But without some intel, we're going to get ourselves killed and do more harm than good."

"There are a dozen doors and a hundred windows. All of them are fortified?"

"All of them." Lau confirmed. "Plenty of guards, too."

"Shutting down the Battalion isn't the problem. The problem is that they have prisoners."

"Can we do a drop? We've got aircraft in play again." Hayley offered.

"No high altitude craft. And if they hear a chopper coming..."

"Which they will." Alexis put in. "I haven't heard a go-kart engine in weeks. They'll hear heavy artillery coming." She looked at Esposito. "Only way to do this is to get in the door and look around first. Without them going for the prisoners."

"Then we'll have to create a diversion." Esposito said. "We can keep their focus on the corridors near the door, but the longer this goes, the more likely they'll go for the hostages. Alexis, your job will be to get to the civilian's and get them out fast, and I don't care how you do it."

"We can't use the same plan as we did at the Docks. There could be a hundred rooms in that building." Alexis argued. "It could take me an hour to search them all, especially if the doors are locked, and even more if I have to fight or sneak my way past a bunch of armed guards. They aren't scared gangs in there."

"You got a better idea?"

Alexis licked her lips. "I thought I might walk up to the front door and ask them to take me to their prisoners."

* * *

The Brig section was occupied by Castle, Beckett, Nico, Carla, and four others. One of the others was in a tattered National Guard outfit, and it looked like he'd been beaten half to death. The other three were civilians. Beckett didn't recognize them, but she knew the uniform of a post-plague survivor. Mismatched clothes, dark circles under the eyes...

Carla was breathing hellfire. "I knew this was a mistake. We're stronger alone!"

"Calm down, sis." Nico told her, unflappable. "Everything's under control."

"Care to explain that?" Castle asked him.

"Well, you wanted an alliance, didn't you?" Nico grinned. "The way I figure it, we've both been taken, and both our organizations know where we were meeting. If your Noble Knights of Camelot can rescue us, then we can do business, and if my Sister's Harem of Hopeful Suitors can get me outta here, then why do we need  _you_?"

Castle and Beckett traded a look. "So, how did your thing go?" Castle quipped.

"About the same as always." Beckett agreed grimly. "Remind me, how did I wind up in here?"

"I think you were coming to rescue me." Castle teased. "If Espo can track either of us and stage a jailbreak, we've won an ally. Do you know where we are?"

"They had me blind the entire way in." Beckett shook her head. "You?"

"Same." Castle admitted. He glanced over at the other four. "How about you? You know where we are?"

"Somewhere in Penn Plaza, I think." One of them offered. "I tried to get in out of the cold. When they realized I didn't have anyone else, they left me in here. That was day before yesterday." He nodded at the other two civilians. "They were here when I arrived, and haven't said a word."

"What happened to them?"

"I don't think it had anything to do with the soldiers. I think they were like that when they got here." He gave a hollow look to Castle. "Bad couple of weeks, y'know?"

"Yeah, I know." Castle looked back to his wife. "I'm a little surprised that we weren't tagged. They strike me as the type to snoop on their friends in The D-"

"AhAh!" Beckett shook her head. "I would be very surprised if they weren't listening in right now."

"They aren't." Groaned the man in the National Guard uniform. "If they heard half the things me and my buddy were saying to each other in here, they'd stop putting the questions so rough."

"Where's your buddy now?" Carla asked.

The guardsman just looked at them painfully. He didn't need to answer.

Nico just smirked like a shark. "Wonder which one of us gets to the 'questioning' stage first."

The door rattled open and in walked the man that had taken Beckett prisoner, red eye-patch almost glowing in the dim light. Next to him was a man with platinum blonde hair.

_We're about to find out._ Castle reflected.

Blonde-Hair looked at them and pointed at Beckett. "That one." He said with a leer.

Eye-patch rolled his eyes.

Castle turned to stone.

Bbut Nico actually laughed. "Ohh, it's like  _that_ , is it?" He taunted Blonde-Hair. "Funny, but ever since the world ended, I've gotten all the trim I needed, just offering a girl a tin of pineapple slices. You telling me you need to keep yours in handcuffs?"

"Maybe that's what does it for him?" Carla agreed, laughing derisively. "He's not very ugly, and he's not short... I guess I know what he's compensating for."

Blonde-Hair scowled. "You want me to pick you instead, sweetheart?"

Carla grinned toothily. "Anything you bring within reach of me I'm keeping."

Blonde-Hair came over and hauled Carla to her feet. "Fine, you win."

Eye-Patch watched them drag her out, and glanced at Beckett. "He's a hothead, that one. You do get that she and her brother just rescued you from getting picked yourself, right?"

Beckett was unreadable.

Eye-Patch shrugged. "Suit yourself." He glanced at Nico. "Don't know what you were protecting the lady cop for, convict. But you should know: What you're obviously thinking? You're wrong. We just need information, not anything else. We're not like that here."

"Information about what?" Castle asked.

"About the opposition." Eye-Patch told them. "The City is lost, and the only thing left is to wait it out, until the wildfire burns itself out. Even the coldest Darkest Winter ends. When the dust settles, the only question left is who's left standing."

Castle swiftly understood. "And the only ones who might have a problem with that are the ones who won't get with the program and play the smart odds."

"Right." Eye-Patch told them. "The Commander's a good guy. He doesn't leave his people behind, and there's nothing he wouldn't do to protect them. So your pals in The Division can either get out of the way, or be removed."

Castle and Beckett looked at each other. "The Division? What's that?"

Eye-Patch was about to answer, when the door opened again, and Carla was shoved back in, with blood pouring from her teeth, very pleased with herself. Blonde-Hair followed her in and re-cuffed her, teeth-marks deep in his neck, and a slice missing from one ear.

"Forty five seconds." Nico cackled. "New record for you, sis."

Blonde-Hair snarled, furious. "You think you're cute? There's no help coming. You know that, right?  _Nobody's_  going to help you!"

* * *

"Help!" Alexis shouted, panicked.

The two men on guard duty outside the Post office snapped their guns up. A young woman with torn clothing and messed up red hair limped up to them, hands up in surrender, trying to run when she could only hobble. A large backpack was being dragged along behind her, and she had tears streaming down her face. "Help! Please!"

The guards pointed their guns, and two red laser points were squared on her forehead, but the girl kept coming. "Help! They're behind me! Please! I'll pay you! I've got food!"

"Kid, get on the ground or I'll shoot you."

Alexis ducked, hands up higher, blubbering out huge tears. "Please! Don't leave me out here! They'll kill me! I'll do anything!"

At that moment, the sound of people yelling came from further down the street, with a few gunshots chasing after her. One bullet hit the ground at her feet and Alexis dove forward with a cry, outright pleading on hands and knees. "PLEASE!"

Figures in gas masks came running out of the dark with their guns, catcalling and hollering. One of the guards returned fire automatically. Just a few rounds. Just to keep them back.

And then a grenade came, hurled from the dark shadows.

"Grenade!" One of the guards yelled, and yanked open the door, diving inside. The other guard followed... And Alexis darted forward before it shut, managing to get inside before the thing blew, with fierce light and noise banishing the darkness for a split second.

"Oh thank you! Thankyouthankyouthankyou!" Alexis nearly blubbered, when five different rifles were put against her head from different directions. "Please don't shoot! I have food!"

"Stand Easy."

The soldiers all pulled back, but only a few inches. Alexis didn't dare think that she was in any way safer. She looked up as a young-ish man with thick stubble and hard eyes came over. She knew instantly that he was in charge. She made a quick scan of him, and found no name tag, no rank insignia... There was one identifying mark on his equipment. A small tag that read 'Vanguard'.

Her eyes flicked back up to his face just in time to see him turn to stone. He had seen the look. He knew she was looking for clues. "Search her!"

Alexis was hoisted to her feet and searched so thoroughly that she flushed as red as her hair. She didn't put up a fight. Her bag was taken and pulled apart. "She was right about to food..." One of the soldiers reported. "One weapon. 22. No bullets. Knife in her sleeve."

'Vanguard' came closer and looked closer at Alexis. "You were trained."

Alexis played dumb. "What? I don't understand..."

"Who. Taught. You." He said again, and she had absolutely no doubt that he'd kill her if he didn't like the answer. "Someone taught you what to look for, how to run. Who was it?"

Alexis shrugged helplessly and worked up as many tears as she could. "New York taught me. The only people left are people like me... or you."

It was the most plausible lie she could offer, since it was completely true. 'Vanguard' considered her a moment, and looked closer at her eyes, searching for something. "No contacts." He said finally.

Alexis shook her head. "No. I-I-I used to have reading glasses, but I haven't seen them in days..."

"Shut up." He told her, already at work. "Increase defenses on the Northern perimeter, and arm mines in the south quarter. Evacuate the lobby and the rear loading dock." He turned to the guard with the eye-patch. "Process her. I'll have questions later."

Eye-Patch looked Alexis up and down, exactly once. "Yes boss."

"And come straight back." The Commander warned.

"Yes boss." Eye-Patch promised, not concerned. He hadn't been planning anything.

* * *

Alexis tried to look around without it being obvious as Eye-Patch hauled her through the building. Staircases, polished marble floors, several large side rooms... But her attention kept returning to her escort. The eye-patch was distinctive. This was the man she had seen on the edge of the Echo. This was the man that took Beckett prisoner. "Interesting eye-patch." Alexis sniffed as he escorted her through the hallways, wiping her face. The more turns they made on the second floor, the fewer people she saw. They were getting to their destination... And there was nobody else in sight. When he reached for the key ring, she was sure. "I've never seen a red eye-patch before." She said with a smile. "There a story behind it?"

"There is." Eye-Patch confirmed. "You interested in hearing it?"

"Actually, no." Alexis said regretfully. An instant later, she had brought her hand up in a swift chop to his throat. It was a precision blow that Hayley had taught her, and she followed it up an instant after that with a swift knee to his groin.

The guy was two feet taller than her, and maybe fifty pounds heavier, and it took all her strength to keep him from slamming into the floor like a felled tree. He had a few seconds to try and shout past his spasming throat, and Alexis took the chance to yank a fire extinguisher off the wall and club him over the head with it. Eye-Patch went over backwards before his eyes rolled back in his head and she lunged forward to lower him to the floor as quietly as she could.

_Wow. Am I really doing this?_

She thought of her father. The rest was easy. She glanced around the empty hallway, and looked for a place to put him. He had keys. It took her the longest thirty seconds of her life to try them all and find the key to the nearest door.

Once the door was closed behind them, Alexis looked him over. There was little chance she could drag him any further until she got the armor, and the jacket, and the gear off him. He had zip-ties in his vest, and she tied him up. She was about to leave, when she realized she didn't know how long he'd be out, and she went back and gagged him with his own socks.

The vest wasn't exactly her size, but the straps were surprisingly adjustable. Her guard didn't carry weapons, which she would have found strange a week before, but now it was reassuring. It meant that he was in charge of guarding the prisoners. They wouldn't have armed him, because if the prisoners had gotten the upper hand, as she had just done, the battalion wouldn't want her armed.

She pulled the concealable earbud out from the spot between her teeth and her cheek. She wasn't quite sure how it had survived the trip, or how something so small could function as a microphone too, but she was just glad she hadn't swallowed it.

"Hayley, I'm in." Alexis reported.

"What do you see, Rookie?"

"At least twenty guards, armed to the teeth. Full body armor, military grade weapons and equipment. The front door is a trap; that's why they didn't fight for it. The door opens, but they've got the whole lobby rigged with explosives. I think they come in the loading bay; because both lead to the main stairwell. The prisoners are somewhere on the second floor." She hesitated. "At least, their young and female prisoners are. But I think that's where they keep people they aren't sure of yet. I don't get the feeling that these guys are... like that. They're too... cold."

* * *

"What did I tell you? The kind of face that can talk it's way through a locked door." Hayley said with a grin.

Esposito had turned to stone. "She isn't even armed."

"It was her play."

"But it's my command." He countered. "The buck stops with me, and I ordered a rookie to run up to the All Star Team and flirt her way in, just on the off chance she can improvise a half-dozen people out again."

Hayley rested a hand on her shoulder. "What I said? About how her father was the one string keeping her from flying high? For the first time, that's working for us. She'll pull it off." She offered. "I have faith."

"Boss, I got one of their radios." Alexis reported. "They're putting snipers on the roof, just in case. You'll have to remove them first."

Esposito keyed his own earpiece. "Lau, you get that?"

"I got it. Three Snipers, but they're looking at the road. We're ready to engage on your order." She reported.

"We might have another advantage." Alexis said. "The lobby is wired as a means of defense, but they aren't mines. They're remote charges. I saw short range antennae. So it stands to reason they wouldn't set them all off at once."

"Right, it'd damage the building foundation." Esposito nodded. "Probably triggered from another room, mine by mine. Cheap landmines that you can control."

"What if we could set them all off? Draw the defenders to the front of the building, while a second team goes in the Loading Bay?"

"Good plan. Get set up, Lau."

* * *

Castle and Beckett looked up when they heard keys in the door. Alexis came in and took the whole room at a glance. She saw the three civilians and felt better about her plan. She wasn't the first one to come in and never leave.

"Alexis?" Castle blurted when he saw her, straining against his cuffs.

Alexis let out a breath that she'd been holding for six hours. "I can't leave you alone for five minutes, can I?"

"Who the hell is this?" Carla demanded.

"Alexis what are you doing here?" Castle demanded. "You should be as far from here as you can get!"

_You have four seconds to take control of a situation._  Alexis remembered Kate's advice. "Hey! Listen close! If you all do exactly as I say, I can get  _most_  of you out here alive." She said firmly. "Don't be the exception!"

It worked. The people who didn't know her were listening.

"Is there a plan?" Beckett asked, subtly looking around for Esposito.

"Yes. Now that I've found you, we wait for another... two minutes." Alexis came over with the keys and started letting them free. She went to the beaten National Guard soldier and checked him. No pulse. He'd died in his sleep and nobody noticed. "Stay quiet. I can't get you out of here until we get the signal."

"What will the signal be?"

"You won't miss it." Alexis promised and lead the way out.

"Who the hell was that?" Nico's sister asked.

Castle gave her a proud look. "That's my daughter."

Nico's eyebrows raised into his hairline and he let out a low whistle. "Richard, my friend. Maybe we can do business after all, eh?"

"Careful, Nico. She's handy with a sword, from what I hear." Beckett drawled.

* * *

"Whoever those men were, they apparently don't like being run off." Vanguard said over his radio channels, and Alexis heard it in her stolen left earbud. "Our spotters see over a dozen armed men coming up the front steps toward the main entrance. Give them a good fight, but don't let them past the lobby. Ops, you have detonation control, only let them in if you have to. Remember, we don't want to run them off scared, we want to break any rival factions. Let them fight their way into the building... but don't let anyone  _out_  again."

Alexis relayed the information quietly to the mic in her right earbud. "You get all that? Don't let anyone go further than the stairs."

"Roger that. Opposition is heading for the front of the building." Lau reported. "Finding frequency."

The JTF agents and NYPD were down at ground level, firing steadily at the door. The guards were in the windows on the second and third level, firing back. Neither side had position, which was by design. Lots of noise, lots of attention, little achievement.

* * *

"Frequency found." Lau reported.

"Let em have it." Esposito ordered, heading for the Rear Loading Bay with Hayley.

* * *

Every mine in the lobby exploded at once. All of them. The blast rose through the bottom three floors of the building, and took half the concrete facade down with it, including all the windows with the guards.

* * *

Inside, on the second floor, the building shook hard enough that everyone reached out to hold onto something. The lights flickered and went out, before coming on again, and the sounds of walls cracking and floors caving in came rumbling through the structure.

"Please tell me that was the Signal." Beckett commented. "I'd hate to think there was something more obvious coming."

"Now we run!" Alexis told them, and lead the way.

* * *

"Dammit, OPS. What happened!?" Vanguard raged.

"It wasn't me, sir. I hadn't even primed the things!"

"Then we're under attack. All points, go on alert, lethal force is authorized. Abandon the front door and seal the corridors between there and the loading bay!"

* * *

Esposito floored the truck and it skidded over the barricades, wrecking the front wheels and tearing up the axles, but they made it through the loading bay doors.

The two of them flew out of the door, guns blazing, in opposite directions. They had knocked down the first round of defenders within a few seconds of the blast, but the Battalion inside the building was already counterattacking. Esposito hit a button on his gauntlet and the mobile barricade snapped open, giving him cover and he walked straight at them, firing methodically. Hayley was right behind him, using his cover herself.

"Set!" She said in his ear, and Esposito set the barricade down firmly, taking cover. Hayley tossed a grenade over his shoulder, focusing her contacts to steer the Seeker around the corner, right into the hallway.

Another blast, and they knew they'd never get inside.

"Loading Bay isn't an option. Anyone have an alternate?" Esposito called.

"Maintenance Tunnel, front side of the building." Lau called. "It leads to the main intersection, and you don't have to go up the front stairs."

* * *

"That was a lot harder than it usually would have been." Hayley commented wryly as they ran around the front half of the building. "Who are these guys?"

"Not sure... You're hit." Esposito realized.

"It hit the vest, I'm fine." Hayley hissed against her ribcage and promptly snap-drew a 45, putting two of the eager guards down. The rest of the defenders hadn't organized yet, and they ran back to the tunnel as Team Division pressed the advantage.

They made it all the way to the staircase before they met the second line of defenders, who had set up cover and barricades and gun points at the base of the stairs.

* * *

At the top of that staircase, Alexis looked down, wondering if she dared try to help. She didn't have any weapons, save her stolen knife, and she had to get her family and three other people past the landing to the other side of the hallway. Esposito and Hayley had them distracted, but one glance upstairs would be all it took for one of them to notice, waltz upstairs and just execute them all.

_Everything is a weapon, a protection, or a tool._  Alexis remembered Hayley's advice, and went to the fire hose on the wall. She pulled her pocket knife out and jimmied the glass off, so that the smashing sound wouldn't get anyone's attention. She rolled out the hose as quickly as she could, and sliced off the nozzle. "Kate!" She whispered. "Get ready to run. I'll delay them as long as I can."

Alexis threw the end of the hose as far down the stairs as she could, and she quickly spun the wheel. The water wasn't pumped from the mains. It was stored in the building, in case the electrics went out during a fire. The hose filled up quickly, without the nozzle to hold the water back, a river of water went streaming down the tiled stairs.

"Hey!" One of the Battalion saw it and noticed their prisoners running down the hall, in clear view. "Brig Break!"

Some of the guards who didn't have position to fire on the Division Agents broke ranks to chase after their prisoners. They went for the stairs, and suddenly went sliding around on the wet tiles.

Alexis caught a flash of Esposito coming in the door with Hayley on his heels. They had taken the Lobby...

She wanted to stay and help, but Alexis had a job, to get everyone out of there.

* * *

They made their way through the hallways, until they found a way out. A window that wasn't barred. It was over the loading dock, and would normally have a twenty foot drop under it, but at this moment, the large truck that Esposito had driven up had been parked in the loading dock, and that meant it was only a six foot drop to the container on the back.

Nico and Castle started hoisting the three mute civilians out, and lowering them down so that they'd have a short drop before they could climb to street level. "If it's still mobile at all, get in that truck and go!" Nico told his sister. "If its too damaged, keep everyone together and find a place to hide. Somewhere far enough away from here to avoid snipers. Go!"

Alexis was at the door, peeking into the hallway. "You too." She told Nico. "Esposito and Hayley are pinned down at the stairwell." Alexis reported. "I have to help them but I can't until get the civilians out of here."

"You have." Nico told her. "We aren't civilians."

Alexis glanced at her father and calculated how many seconds it would take her to convince him to leave. She didn't like the number she got. But then she caught movement out of the corner of her eye, and did as Hayley instructed, she got out of sight.

An instant later, something struck the door with a wet splat, and a second after that, the door was blown to toothpicks. The roar was enough to send everyone deaf, and Beckett overturned the nearest file cabinet to make another line of cover to hide behind. It wasn't going to help, and they all knew it.

"What the hell kind of gun was that?" Castle yelped once he got his hearing back.

Alexis was flattened by the blast, trying to tell down from up.  _Clear the confusion. What do you see? Trolley, full of boxes of files. Filing cabinets. Fire extinguisher. Window. Door is destroyed. Fires. Small ones._

Nico looked around. "Dammit, if we only had some weapons!"

Alexis sat upright and looked around the secure room. "Everything is a weapon." She told Kate, and grabbed the closest thing on fire.

* * *

Vanguard strode into the impromptu Brig, and found it empty. He searched three doors before he found his guard with the eye-patch. The man was just coming around, and he was yelling furiously into the gag.

The Commander pulled the socks out of his mouth. "She was about two feet shorter than you, and  _unarmed_. What did she do? Ask you  _nicely_?"

Eye-Patch was as mortified as he was angry. "Let me at her!"

"Ordinarily, I'd tell you to get yourself free, but as it happens, the girl was just the first move; so I need all hands." He cut the man free and held out a gun. "Go."

* * *

The hallway was only eight feet. The Blonde-Haired guard that had fired the sticky bomb at them was creeping along the hallways toward the door. If his quarry was going to make a move, it would be when he got closer. He started to reload his launcher-

Out of the room, at a quick run came a trolley, and it was on fire. It took Blonde-Hair half a second to realize that the boxes of files had been lit, and he couldn't see past the smoke to tell who was pushing it, but it started coming towards him very fast.

Blonde-Hair fired again, on instinct, but he realized instantly he had the wrong target. He couldn't see who was pushing it, so he should have aimed for the floor, or the wall beside the trolley, but instead, the charge splattered all over the front of the impromptu battering ram.

Nico and Castle were pushing the trolley, Alexis and Beckett right on their heels as they charged the length of the hallway. Alexis heard the splattering sound and shouted. "Release!"

Everyone behind the battering ram dove in the opposite direction, flat against the floor. The trolley kept going, momentum taking it right up to the guard as the one second fuse counted down to nothing-

**BOOM!**

* * *

"Agent, we've got another blast on the second floor, I count three, maybe four civilians making a break for it., Whatever you guys are up to in there, it seems to be working!" Lau reported.

"What is that kid doing?" Esposito demanded.

"I don't know, but she seems to be doing it rather well." Hayley grinned, firing steadily. "Do we fall back?"

* * *

"What the hell is this?" Nico asked, turning the sticky bomb launcher back and forth in his hands. "Doesn't look like any kind of gun I've ever seen."

"I have." Alexis took it off him and adjusted the safety, just the way Hayley had taught her. Nobody outside the Division knew how to use a Sticky Bomb. It suddenly seemed to be semi-alive in her grip, eager to fight. Alexis could still hear the gunfire downstairs and was oddly pleased. If they were still shooting, it meant Esposito and Hayley were still alive. "Stay behind me." She went running back to the stairwell.

Nico grinned at Castle. "Rick, I really wish Dino had introduced me to your first wife. I'd love to know which side of the family she gets it from."

"You and me both." Castle murmured to himself as he watched his daughter, jaw hanging open.

* * *

"What the hell kind of bullets can go through one of our barricades that fast?" Hayley hissed.

"I have no idea!" Esposito hissed back. "We'll have to do this the old fashioned way." He switched his rifle to single shot. "Cover me while I line up the shot."

"That's not a sniper rifle."

"It is if I'm holding it." Esposito came out from behind cover and lined up a target. Hayley came out the other side and started shooting, keeping the targets down.

"Now." Esposito told her, and the cover fire stopped. After a few precious seconds, their enemies raised enough to start firing back, and Esposito put him down instantly. She second one didn't duck back fast enough, and Esposito put him down too.

"Reinforcements!" The Commander called over the building PA. "Everyone in the building with a weapon, get to the Main Intersection, we're falling back... Once our attackers are dead."

"You got an angle on the Commander?" Esposito asked.

"No. He's still on the upstairs level." Hayley grunted. Then she caught the movement. "Oop, no he's not! He's right here!"

An instant later, a heavy barrage of firepower came and sent them both running back for their lives. BRATATATATATATATATTTATAT!

"Go!" Vanguard ordered his people. "I've got this. Get our people back to the Secondary Base."

Hayley and Esposito traded a look. "Seriously, who  _is_  this guy?" She hissed. "He's got  _two_  bases  _and_  a minigun!"

"Size of your gun isn't everything, or so I'm told." Esposito said with a good-natured leer.

"So Doctor Parish told me." Hayley quipped back automatically before wincing awkwardly. "Sorry. Forgot who I was talking-"

BRATATATATATATATATTTATAT!

They both ducked again.

"How the hell do we get out of here without getting chewed to bits by  _that_?"

* * *

"How the hell do we get downstairs without getting shot apart by  _that_?" Alexis hissed.

Beckett looked around, seeking inspiration. "I don't know."

And then, from a lot closer than they'd expected, a familiar face with a bright red eye-patch and a rifle came into the hall. "You!"

Alexis saw him, and quickly snapped up the Sticky Bomb Launcher. She didn't have the aim to get him with it, but she didn't want to anyway. Instead, she aimed at the floor...

The bomb splattered, stuck... and detonated, sending the entire floor caving in, crashing down a level.

* * *

BRATATATATATATATA- _ **CRASH**_!

The Division Agents looked up in shock from their hiding places as the entire ceiling caved in on the Commander and his weapon, bringing the fight to a surprising end.

Picking herself out of the rubble was a familiar face. "Hey guys!" Alexis coughed painfully. "So, the plan went well."

Hayley ran over and pulled her upright. "Well, you can make an entrance kid, I'll give you that."

Nico and Beckett were coming down the stairs at a run. "Are you guys okay?"

Eye-Patch was climbing out of the debris, reaching for his gun, when Castle hit him with the nozzle off the hose that Alexis had cut. It was heavy and had sharp metal edges, and the guy went down hard. Dazed, he was suddenly locked in a staring contest with Alexis.

She stared right back. It was odd, like she was seeing something more in this one. Something she hadn't seen in any of the wolves she'd faced over the last few days. And after a moment, she realized what it was.

Hatred. Pure wrath. She had embarrassed him, made him look weak, and he wanted to kill her for it. If the world magically went back to normal tomorrow, he wouldn't let that stop him from seeking vengeance.

His one good eye rolled back in his head, and the spell was broken, but it had reached Alexis in a way that the entire week had not.

_Wow. I have a nemesis._

Castle had his phone out. There was no signal, of course, but he was snapping photos of all the soldiers they had fought. Hayley was helping herself to a look at their weapons. Esposito had his eyes glued to the Launcher in Alexis' grip.

"Agent, what's left of the Battalion is bugging out." Lau called over their comms. "Do we pursue?"

"Negative. We have them. Mission accomplished." Esposito heard his voice say. "We need to get out of here. Right now. Move out!"

Alexis looked around quickly. "Where's Vanguard?"

Esposito looked. "The Commander. He's not here! I saw him get buried, could be..."

"Esposito, you better get your people outta there. Signal Traffic on that Relay just went through the roof. Reinforcements are coming!"

* * *

Nico looked around the dark city street like he owned it. "Rick, Captain... GI Jane and friends." He sent Alexis a wink. "You saved my life, and that of my sister. I do believe we are partners in this war now."

"Nico, I don't pretend to know what the city will look like a year from now." Beckett told him. "But I do know that we're the ones left, and that's all that matters any more. I don't know if there are laws left anywhere in the country, but there aren't any in the City. Your guys always had time to enforce your rules, and you always had time to defend your territory. If your... rules, can come in any way closer to mine, then we can hold this city together. If not, we're both fighting a war on too many fronts at the same time."

Nico gave a single nod. "I know some of the things my family has been into. But I have a sister, and she has a child. Obviously, there are some things that I can't look her in the eye and confess to. What men in my profession have done, we stopped calling it crime, and called it Business. But now, Money has been abolished too. The profit is in lifespan. I think we can dance this little dance." He sent Alexis another wink. "And I, for one, am actually looking forward to it."

* * *

Nico split off and went back to his people. The gang from the 12th and the Division Agents began the hike back to the 12th.

"Alexis." Esposito said once Nico was away. "Where did you get that launcher?"

She let out a breath. "Noticed that, did you? I got it from the guard that took a shot at me with it."

Esposito and Hayley looked at each other, eyes turning to stone.

"What?" Beckett pressed them. "What is it?"

Hayley looked the question to Esposito, who gave Beckett a meaningful look and nodded. "Me and Javi were Second Wave Agents. If we were activated, it meant that the First Wave had already gotten the lay of the land and organized civil infrastructure. But once we were activated, we realized that none of that had happened. The reason we're so far behind the curve was that we were started a week later than we should have."

"What happened to the First Wave?"

"We have no idea." Hayley admitted. "We figured the City or the plague or the factions must have gotten to them. That's why there's a Second Wave. And a Third."

"But here's the point..." Esposito put in neutrally. "That Launcher that Alexis took off her guard was Division Issue Weapons Tech. You won't find that in any other branch of the service."

"You think that the Battalion we just escaped were the ones that got your people?" Castle asked. "It would make sense, if they had all the Division Tech."

"Yeah, but the reason Alexis was able to use it? It's because I trained her how." Hayley explained. "There are safeguards in all our special weapons, specifically so that nobody could steal one and use it against us."

"Which means one of your people must have either given it to them, or shown them how." Beckett challenged.

"That's right." Esposito nodded.

"By force?"

"Our field agents are trained in resisting all kinds of downright  _unholy_  interrogation methods." Hayley said plainly, with a terrifying smirk at Alexis. "Brace yourself for when we get to  _that_  part of your training, sweetheart. It  _won't_  be fun."

Alexis shivered violently.

"So either your guy couldn't hold out, or there may be something rotten in the First Wave Agents." Beckett commented, almost daring Esposito to contradict her.

"If that's who they were." Hayley put in. "We're Sleepers. We don't know each other until the call comes in. I didn't know Esposito was an Agent."

"Well somebody does." Beckett insisted. "Something I can tell you for a fact from my time with the Feds, is that there's always something on paper somewhere, even when they're Classified Top Secret." She held out her phone to Esposito. "Espo, you may have been a Sleeper, but you were a detective too."

"Beckett, it's also possible that one of my people is tied to a chair somewhere getting this stuff beaten out of their brain, and if we go chasing ghosts, he or she just has to sit down and take it a lot longer." Esposito countered.

"I understand that, but if you were me and I was you? Tell me it wasn't the first thought that went through your head when you saw the launcher in Alexis' hand."

Castle held out his phone without a word. There hadn't been any service in weeks, but the photos he had taken were all clearly visible. Every member of the Battalion that the team from the 12th had knocked down that night.

Beat.

"Lau." Esposito called, taking the phone. "When I get back to the 12th, I'll be sending you some pictures of faces. Run them, would you please?"

"We don't have files on all the faces in New York." Lau reminded him.

"I'm betting you will on these ones." Esposito kept his eyes focused on the screen, and his face expressionless.

"I'll get to it." Lau promised. "Listen, my guys keeping watch back at Penn Plaza say that the Enemy Reinforcements aren't fortifying, they're evacuating."

"Good." Esposito commented. "What would you say about claiming the Post Office as a Base of Operations?"

"I think it's a good position, but there's plenty more to sort out."

Esposito nodded to himself. "We'll discuss it back at the 12th."

They kept walking.

Hayley poked Alexis' side. "So. Nico's cute."

Alexis smirked. "For a mobster."

They heard Castle growl from four feet away.

* * *

There was a round of applause from the 12th when the Captain walked back in the door. She smiled and ducked her head. It wasn't the first time people had made a fuss, but the last time was when she had been shot. She would have been glad to walk in unnoticed and sneak back to her office, but such was not likely.

Castle squeezed her fingers. _Embrace it, Kate. Not a lot of happy news these days._

Kate couldn't deny that. She put a hand up to call for quiet, and made the speech. "I'm told that you guys all mobilized to get me and my husband back. Obviously, I'm grateful; and while I hope never to return the favor, you know that I'd move heaven and earth to get all of you back." She looked to Esposito. "All of you." She emphasized. "But as much as I'd like to celebrate and take a week off, the city doesn't sleep, even now." She smiled at them. "The mission was a success. We've got the docks, we've got Allies keeping the Dark Zone behind it's walls with a whip and a chair, and we've cleaned out an idea Base of Operations for our partners in The Division, which means we get the Bullpen back soon. This was a good night for us."

The 12th applauded.

Alexis felt a hundred feet tall and glanced over at Hayley. She, Lau and Esposito were melting back against the walls, going unnoticed. Alexis swiftly understood.  _We're Division. We don't take curtain calls, we don't take the credit. We just do the job._

Lau's people had set up a temporary command center in one of the interrogation rooms. Lau was already there, at the map, Esposito went to her, and waved Alexis over to join them.

Castle turned and noticed his daughter wasn't at his hip any more. He went looking and found her at the map too. One of Lau's people stopped him at the doorway, but he could still hear them speaking.

"The position is good, I just worry about the size of it." Lau explained. "The Post Office is a big space, and we always planned to open a medical wing, and a refugee center. it's meant as a Safe Zone, after all. But if we don't have a lab, or a Checkpoint, or for that matter, power and water; then what really is the point?"

"How many of there people do we have?"

"None of the living. They came back and cleared their people out, and they trashed the generators, the turbines, the security systems... They just smashed the whole thing on their way out." Lau said, annoyed.

"Alexis?" Castle called from the door, a little surprised.

His daughter glanced up. "Yeah, I'll be right in; Dad. Gotta get this down while it's still fresh." She was still totally focused on the map. "Lau's right, the Post Office is a mess... But it just needs repair, not construction. Find any other building in the city that's set up half as well, and with equally good positioning. I've been out there Scouting for a week, and I'll give you a hint: There isn't one."

"Fixing her up will take a lot of work."

"So will building a new base." Esposito told them. "Half the equipment and preparation was done by the Battalion for us already. Finding key people was already on our mission list, let's put them to work for repair instead of construction." Esposito told them.

"He's right. It saves us a lot of time in the long term." Alexis nodded. "While I was in there, I saw plenty of dorm room, plenty of workspace, fortifications over the windows already built, and after we were done with it, there was only one main entrance, so it's fairly defensible."

_She's a soldier now._  Castle thought in disbelief.  _My baby girl is all grown up taking over the city, one block at a time._

He felt Kate slip her hand in his, and lead him gently away as The Division took over command, making their plans to retake the city.

* * *

Kate led the way into her office. Castle hadn't said much since Alexis had freed them. She had no idea what he was thinking. She closed the door carefully, led him over to the couch and sat him down. He followed her direction without even looking at her, off somewhere in his head.

Beckett gave him all the time he needed, resting her hands on his shoulders.

Finally, he spoke. "Kate?"

"Yeah?"

Castle took in a slow, deep breath, and then exploded off the couch with a war whoop. "Did you  _see_  that!?" Castle almost yelled. "That was my  _daughter_  that did that!"

"She was impressive." Kate agreed, smiling.

Castle kept smiling for five seconds, before the blood ran away from his face and he turned ashen. "Kate? Did you see all that? That was my  _daughter_  that did that!"

Kate came forward and wrapped her arms around him tightly. "I know, Babe. I know."

They stayed there a while, rocking with each other gently.

"It's hers now, isn't it?" Castle whispered. "You and me and Ryan and Lanie and Roy and Espo... We fought the Good Fight for eight years... And now it's my daughter's fight. Her and Espo and Hayley. It's their fight now."

"No. Our fight too. Her world, our war." Beckett promised. "We were the Alpha's for a long time, Babe... But the NYPD is disbanded. Even if I kept the team from the 12th together, most of them are dead, and the rest are JTF now. I don't think it's our Wolfpack any more."

Castle scrubbed his face with his hands. "When I killed off Derrick Storm, I had a dozen ideas on how to continue. I actually played around with the idea of having Storm's long lost son get a book of his own; but who would take that seriously? Thank god I met you."

"Our story is far from over, Babe." Beckett promised him. "The players have changed, but the game stays the same. Serve and protect, even in the face of extinction." Beckett sighed hard. "And innocence may be a lost cause now, but there are still people in trouble, surrounded by wolves, and crying out for someone to come and help them. And while Alexis and her guys take on people like the Cleaners and the Battalion... There's still a whole lot to be protected. Five percent of people is still a big number in the mortal city."

* * *

"You and Beckett seemed... okay." Alexis commented. "Ice thawing?"

"Yeah." Esposito agreed. "What about you? Ice between you and your dad seemed to be growing thicker."

"That wasn't Ice, that was parental instinct." Alexis shook her head. "I think it's finally dawned on him that I can handle this job better than he can handle me having it."

"Well, our Base of Operations will be running by dawn. And Camp Hudson is receiving choppers every ten minutes, bringing in supplies, weapons, people... Foreplay's over, we're in the game now." Hayley told her apprentice. "Which means it's time for you to make a decision."

"I thought I already had." Alexis almost smiled.

"It's not official till we sign you in at the base." Esposito told her. "You get your contacts, your rank, your SHD Clearance... Your father wasn't wrong, kid. It's a bad business sometimes. Certainly a hard one. You made it through and saved your family... but saving the City is something else. You've been shot at five times in the last week; and that's not even close to a good way of life. This ain't no video game where you can just shrug off getting shot. One bad  _millisecond_ is all it takes."

Alexis looked hard at him. "Are you telling me to stay out of it?"

"I'm saying that Hayley has been training you in Field Ops. But I saw you when we waited out the first week. You were working three radio's, charting every move that every faction made... Logistics is no small thing; and it's non-combat. I can make it happen."

"You could also put me on your fireteam." Alexis said with a glance at Hayley.

"Yes, I could." Esposito said matter-of-factly. "Hayley made the comment that you felt responsible for your father. I've known the man eight years, and I agree, you're more of a positive role model than anyone else in the family ever was."

Alexis snorted.

"Hayley said that your dad was the one string you had holding onto you. Tonight, for the first time, that made you  _want_  to fight, with nothing held back." Esposito told her. "You went all the way, unarmed, without any backup that could help, and you landed on your feet like a pro. Like Beckett working her mom's case: You shifted into a whole other gear. If you can bring that kind of Game Face to every mission; without having to rescue your father every time, you'd be one of the best I've ever seen."

"The reverse is also true." Hayley said. "Your dad would rather you be manning a radio, but there are people who can do that. More than can do what you can do. Because there aren't a lot of people who would have volunteered tonight." She leaned back in her chair. "There. You are officially evaluated by your Supervising Officers."

Alexis chewed her lip. "I owe you guys my life."

"Doesn't matter." Hayley and Esposito said together.

"I don't like the idea of you going out there into danger while I sit behind a radio and be s-"

"Doesn't matter." Hayley and Esposito said together.

"This choice is for all the marbles, rookie." Esposito told her. "You can't let us, or your dad or Kate have any power over it. You got drafted into this by circumstance, but now, for the first time, there's a safe place on the map."

"Then I guess i have a choice to make." Alexis said quietly.

"You have until 0600." Esposito told her. "When you sign in at 0630, you either get Contacts, or a desk."

* * *

When dawn came, Esposito and Hayley stood on the rooftop, gazing over the city. Smoke rose, and so did the smell.

Alexis came up the access hatch to join them. The sound of sobbing, or screaming was carried on the wind. Alexis shivered. At this time of day, there wouldn't be any streetlights. The skyline looked pretty close to normal. But there was a sense of dread hanging over the city like a haze. The same sort of haze that had hit them after 9/11.

"What a mess." Alexis said softly to herself.

She hadn't thought she was speaking loud enough to be heard, but Hayley turned and held an arm out to her. Alexis came forward, and stood with them. "I've thought it over."

They didn't even look away from the city, just waiting for her to declare.

"When I was on the radio, during that first week... My brain wanted to climb out of my head and cry in the corner. I hated it. Never in my life had I felt so useless. I hated that feeling. It was that same, powerless fear I got every time I saw that stupid custom-made vest in dad's closet. Eight years, I've been on the sidelines. But until last night, I didn't know I  _could_  be any other way. Last night, when I went in to get my dad; I didn't even blink. I was afraid, but that fear was powerless. I was so focused that it was like the world was made of paper. If I had to chose between going back in to last night's battle, and going back to my quiet, secure home where the radio's are... I can't be on the sidelines any more. I've been both this month; and I know which one I need to be. I'm in, all the way. Now that I know what I can do, I can do anything."

"You would be amazed how often that's all you need." Esposito told her.

"What about the other times?" Alexis asked. "When you need more?"

"Ohh, there are ways to handle that one."

The roof hatch opened again, and Beckett and Castle climbed up to join them.

"We have a Quarantine Bay active at Penn Plaza, your scanners are calibrated correctly to match the ones at Camp Hudson, and the 12th has communications back with One PP... Or JTF Command, if we're calling it that now." Beckett reported. "Your operating post is set up and what's left of the NYPD is ready to go."

"My guy in the Syndicate is on board. He's willing to have his people help maintain order around the outer perimeter of the Dark Zones, and monitor the High Risk Targets until you can deal with them." Castle reported. "Also, Lau left early this morning. She's taken a chopper to Brooklyn to ferry in the rest of your Division Field Agents. They've been gathering there for the last few days. They'll make their way from Camp Hudson to Penn Plaza on foot."

Kate shook her head a little. "I still can't believe I'm sayin' this, but... Esposito,  _sir_? What do we do next?"

"We finish what we started." Esposito drew a flare gun and held it out, handle first, to Alexis. "So, Agent Castle. Care to see who else in the neighborhood is ready to go?"

Alexis grinned, and took the flare gun. With a look to her father, she pointed it straight up, and a bright red light flew straight up into the sky.

The glow lit them all warmly for a moment, and started to go out... when another flare rose quickly, from two blocks away. And then another, twelve streets south. And then another, to the north.

Everyone smiled, suddenly surrounded by allies.

"Let's Take Back New York!"

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Hope you enjoyed the story!
> 
> Read and Review!


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